Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a dominant performance profile in Thief, a 2014 stealth title that remains surprisingly demanding at higher settings. Benchmark data shows this combination ranks 80th out of 2851 tested combos, placing it in the top 3% of all systems evaluated. The pairing leverages a 20-core Arrow Lake processor with a 16 GB Ada Lovelace GPU to produce frame rates that range from solid 4K playable to triple-digit 1080p esports-level smoothness.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Thief with this hardware?*

A: The data indicates that 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with average frame rates ranging from 122 FPS at Ultra settings to 203 FPS at Low settings. At 3840x2160, the average drops to between 72 FPS (Ultra) and 130 FPS (Low), which is still playable but less headroom for high-refresh monitors.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080 (score 54247) and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828). It also outperforms the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.7% and the AMD Radeon 8060S by 2.8%.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance ranking among all processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. Its closest rival is the AMD EPYC 4464P, which scores 64823 (0.3% higher), while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438 (0.3% lower).

*Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Thief at 4K?*

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth provides ample capacity. The measured 4K results show 72 FPS at Ultra and 75 FPS at High, indicating the GPU is not bottlenecked by memory capacity at these settings.

*Q: How does the CPU’s 20-core configuration affect Thief performance?*

A: Thief is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the 20 cores (20 threads) with a 5.30 GHz boost clock ensure no CPU bottleneck. The data shows consistent scaling from 1080p to 4K, with the CPU providing enough headroom to keep frame rates stable.

*Q: What is the most demanding setting preset in Thief?*

A: The Ultra preset is the most demanding across all resolutions. At 3840x2160 it produces 72 FPS average, at 2560x1440 it yields 122 FPS, and at 1920x1080 it reaches 178 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High is small, suggesting diminishing returns beyond High settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary driver of Thief’s frame rates, and the benchmark data reflects its substantial VRAM and clock advantages. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, with memory clocked at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). Its memory subsystem consists of 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. This configuration allows the card to maintain high throughput even when textures and geometry data are streaming rapidly in Thief’s dense environments.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER scales predictably with resolution. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate ranges from 178 FPS (Ultra) to 230 FPS (Low), which indicates the GPU is rarely the limiting factor at this resolution. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to between 122 FPS (Ultra) and 203 FPS (Low), a reduction of roughly 12-32% depending on settings. At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with averages falling to 72 FPS (Ultra) and 130 FPS (Low). This pattern aligns with the GPU’s 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability, which is sufficient for 1440p high-refresh gaming but begins to strain at 4K with maximum quality presets.

The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 320 TMUs and 112 ROPs contribute to its texture fill rate of 816.0 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s. These figures explain why the card performs admirably in Thief, a game that uses heavy shadow mapping and volumetric lighting. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are less relevant for this 2014 title, which does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, but they do not hinder performance. The GPU’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs (average score 54209) reinforces its position as a high-end part, though it trails the RTX 4080 by a negligible 0.1%.

The observed frame rates indicate that the RTX 4080 SUPER is well-matched to Thief’s engine. At 4K High settings, the card produces 75 FPS, which is only 3 FPS lower than the Ultra preset’s 72 FPS. This suggests that the game’s High preset is the sweet spot for 4K, as the visual difference between High and Ultra does not justify the performance cost. The 16 GB VRAM is never saturated, even at 4K, as evidenced by the consistent frame times at Medium settings (min 84 FPS, max 114 FPS).

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the Thief experience with this hardware. At 1920x1080, all settings presets produce playable frame rates, but the data shows a notable drop from Medium (208 FPS) to High (187 FPS) and Ultra (178 FPS). The Low preset reaches 230 FPS, which is overkill for most displays. For 1080p users, the Medium preset offers the best balance, as it maintains a 208 FPS average with a minimum of 177 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts to High settings, which deliver a 128 FPS average. This is a 6 FPS improvement over Ultra (122 FPS) while the visual quality difference is minimal. The Medium preset at 168 FPS is also viable, but the marginal gain over High (40 FPS) may not be worth the reduced graphical fidelity. The Low preset at 203 FPS is excessive, suggesting that players with 144 Hz monitors should prioritize High or Ultra for better visuals without sacrificing smoothness.

For 3840x2160, the data clearly indicates that High settings (75 FPS) are the optimal choice. The Ultra preset drops to 72 FPS, which is still technically playable but leaves no headroom for frame time spikes. Medium settings at 99 FPS provide a safer buffer, while Low at 130 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality. The 4K results show a 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra, so choosing High is a pragmatic decision that preserves the game’s atmospheric lighting and shadow detail without compromising frame rate stability.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the only complete FPS data with min and max values, making it the most predictable option. At 1080p Medium, the range is 177-240 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 143-194 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 84-114 FPS. This consistency suggests that Medium is the safest baseline, but the performance headroom of the RTX 4080 SUPER allows most users to run High or Ultra at lower resolutions without issue.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 80th out of 2851 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the top 2.8% of all systems. This ranking reflects the synergy between the CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s high throughput. The CPU’s 93rd percentile standing among all processors (average score 64640) ensures that it does not bottleneck the GPU, even at 1080p where CPU overhead is more pronounced.

The combo’s rank is particularly impressive given that Thief is a 2014 title that may not fully utilize modern multi-core architectures. The CPU’s 20 cores (20 threads) provide ample parallel processing capability, but the game’s engine likely relies more on single-thread performance. The Core Ultra 7 265 delivers a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, which is well above average. This single-thread strength ensures that the GPU receives a steady stream of draw calls, contributing to the high frame rates observed in the data.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing outperforms 2771 alternatives, which confirms the hardware’s balance. The GPU’s 86th percentile ranking (average score 54209) is slightly lower than the CPU’s 93rd percentile, but the combination still achieves top-tier results. The gap between the CPU and GPU percentiles suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting factor, but the margin is small enough that the overall system remains highly competitive.

The data shows that the combo’s performance is consistent across resolutions, with no anomalous drops that would indicate driver or compatibility issues. The 4K results (72-130 FPS) and 1440p results (122-203 FPS) both fall within expected ranges for this hardware tier. This consistency reinforces the 80th rank and suggests that the combo is well-optimized for Thief’s engine.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 provides the computational backbone for this system, and its specifications directly influence Thief’s performance. The CPU features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This configuration is notable for its lack of hyper-threading, meaning each core handles one thread, which can be advantageous for gaming workloads that prefer physical cores over logical ones.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. This large L3 cache is beneficial for Thief, which frequently accesses game world data. The 30 MB cache reduces memory latency, allowing the CPU to feed the GPU more efficiently. The memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that data can flow quickly between the CPU and system memory, though the game’s modest requirements mean this is rarely a bottleneck.

In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 7 265 achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960. These scores are indicative of strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance, respectively. For Thief, the single-core score is more relevant, as the game’s AI and physics systems are typically single-threaded. The CPU’s 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures that these single-threaded tasks are completed quickly, preventing CPU-bound frame rate drops.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P (score 64823, 0.3% higher) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (score 64438, 0.3% lower). These close margins indicate that the Core Ultra 7 265 is competitively positioned in its segment. However, the EPYC 4464P is a server-class processor, so its similar average score in gaming contexts is notable. The CPU’s 93rd percentile ranking places it above the vast majority of processors, ensuring that it will not hold back the RTX 4080 SUPER in Thief.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 3 nm process node (TSMC) contribute to its efficiency, though power consumption is not a direct factor in the FPS data. The motherboard socket is Intel Socket 1851, which is specific to the Core Ultra Series 2. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes, providing ample bandwidth for the RTX 4080 SUPER’s PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. This forward-compatible setup ensures no data transfer bottlenecks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and RTX 4080 SUPER combination covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of performance.

At 1920x1080, the results are uniformly high. The Low preset achieves an average of 230 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the dataset. Medium settings produce an average of 208 FPS with a minimum of 177 FPS and a maximum of 240 FPS, indicating excellent frame time consistency. High settings drop to 187 FPS average, while Ultra yields 178 FPS average. The gap between Medium and Ultra is 30 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects (likely higher shadow resolution and draw distances) impose a measurable cost. Even at Ultra, the 178 FPS average is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate, making this resolution ideal for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings maintain a high 203 FPS average, which is a 13% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings deliver 168 FPS average, with a range of 143-194 FPS. High settings produce 128 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 122 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 6 FPS, which is within the margin of measurement error. This suggests that at 1440p, the Ultra preset is not significantly more demanding than High, and both are viable for 120 Hz displays. The Low preset at 203 FPS provides headroom for 240 Hz monitors, though the visual compromise may not be worth it for a single-player stealth game.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. Low settings achieve 130 FPS average, which is impressive for 4K but still 35% lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings produce 99 FPS average, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. This range indicates some frame time variability, likely due to the GPU’s memory bandwidth being taxed. High settings drop to 75 FPS average, while Ultra yields 72 FPS. The 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra is negligible, reinforcing the recommendation to use High at 4K. The Low preset at 130 FPS is the only 4K option that comfortably exceeds 100 FPS, making it the choice for high-refresh 4K monitors, though the visual quality reduction is significant.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data. At 1080p, the range is 177-240 FPS; at 1440p, it is 143-194 FPS; and at 4K, it is 84-114 FPS. These ranges indicate that the Medium preset provides the most stable frame pacing, with no severe spikes or drops. The data shows that the combo’s performance is consistently strong, with no resolution or setting combination producing unplayable frame rates. The lowest recorded average is 72 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.