Thief

# Thief with Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a measured performance profile in Thief that spans from highly playable at 1080p to borderline at 4K Ultra. The CPU, a mobile Arrow Lake-HX part with 20 cores and 20 threads, boosts up to 5.30 GHz, while the GPU, an Ada Lovelace chip with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, carries the bulk of the rendering load. Across the twelve measured FPS data points, the combo holds a rank of 1407 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the upper half of the database. The data shows a clear pattern: Thief scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the largest absolute FPS gains appearing when dropping from 4K to 1440p and from 1440p to 1080p.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX is a 20-core, 20-thread mobile processor based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide substantial single-thread headroom, which is relevant for Thief's engine. The CPU scores 5737 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 40642 in multi-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 63173 sits within 0.7% of the Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (deltaPct 0.7) and within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (deltaPct -0.2), indicating near-identical compute capabilities among its closest rivals.

In Thief, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less constrained. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 184 FPS average, a figure that suggests the CPU can feed the RTX 4070 without becoming a bottleneck at that setting level. The 20-core configuration, while overkill for a 2014-era title, ensures that background threads and engine overhead do not introduce stutter. The L3 cache is 30 MB shared, with L2 at 3 MB per core and L1 at 192 KB per core, providing ample on-die storage for game assets that the engine frequently accesses. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 bus further supports high-FPS scenarios, as the data shows 184 FPS at 1080p Low and 140 FPS at 1080p Medium.

At 4K Ultra, the CPU's influence diminishes. The average FPS drops to 41, and the measured results indicate the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's single-thread performance (578 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 2409 in R20, 5737 in R23) remains far above what Thief requires for its logic and AI. The Passmark single-thread score of 4500 corroborates this. The data suggests that the CPU is never the primary constraint in this pairing; instead, it provides a stable platform that allows the GPU's performance envelope to be fully explored across all resolution and settings combinations.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Thief?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 184, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is nearly double the 4K Low result of 74 FPS, illustrating how resolution scaling impacts performance.

Q: How does the combo rank relative to all tested combinations in Thief?

A: The combo ranks 1407 out of 2851 tested combos, placing it in the upper half (approximately the 49th percentile) of all CPU-GPU pairings in the database for this game.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield an average of 96 FPS with a minimum of 82 and maximum of 110, while Ultra settings drop to 70 FPS average. This represents a 26 FPS reduction, or roughly 27% lower performance, when moving from Medium to Ultra.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 have enough VRAM for Thief at 4K?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. The measured data shows playable averages at 4K Low (74 FPS) and Medium (56 FPS), but Ultra drops to 41 FPS, suggesting memory bandwidth and GPU compute, rather than capacity, are the limiting factors.

Q: Is there a measurable difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High settings average 106 FPS, while Ultra averages 101 FPS. This is a small 5 FPS difference, indicating that Ultra offers minimal visual return for the performance cost at this resolution.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 4070 sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628 (deltaPct 0.1), while the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135 (deltaPct -1.3).

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across three resolutions reveals a consistent pattern of scaling that points to the GPU as the dominant constraint in Thief. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 184 at 1920x1080 to 126 at 2560x1440, a 58 FPS reduction (31.5% lower), and then to 74 at 3840x2160, a further 52 FPS reduction (41.3% lower). This progressive decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload, where pixel count directly impacts shader and memory throughput.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar but with smaller absolute drops: 140 FPS at 1080p, 96 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The 84 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K represents a 60% performance loss, which is steeper than the Low setting's 110 FPS drop (59.8% loss). This suggests that higher settings increase per-pixel cost, amplifying the GPU's workload. The minimum and maximum FPS figures at Medium settings (119-161 at 1080p, 82-110 at 1440p, 48-65 at 4K) show that the frame-time variance also scales with resolution, with the 4K range spanning 17 FPS versus 42 FPS at 1080p.

At High settings, the pattern holds: 106 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33 FPS (31.1%), and from 1440p to 4K is 30 FPS (41.1%). Ultra settings show the lowest absolute numbers: 101 FPS at 1080p, 70 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The fact that Ultra at 1080p (101 FPS) is still higher than High at 1440p (73 FPS) indicates that resolution has a larger impact than settings quality within this range. This is consistent with the GPU's 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate, which are finite resources that scale inversely with the number of pixels rendered.

The data strongly suggests that the CPU, with its 5.30 GHz boost clock and high single-thread scores, is not the limiting component at any resolution. Even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 41, the bottleneck is the GPU's ability to process the increased pixel and shader load, not the CPU's ability to issue draw calls or manage game logic.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080: At Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 184 FPS. Medium settings reduce the average to 140 FPS, with a measured minimum of 119 FPS and maximum of 161 FPS. High settings average 106 FPS, while Ultra settings average 101 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 83 FPS, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (44 FPS).

2560x1440: Low settings average 126 FPS. Medium settings average 96 FPS, with a minimum of 82 FPS and maximum of 110 FPS. High settings average 73 FPS, and Ultra settings average 70 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 56 FPS, with the largest drop between Low and Medium (30 FPS). The gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 3 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the top end.

3840x2160: Low settings average 74 FPS. Medium settings average 56 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS and maximum of 65 FPS. High settings average 43 FPS, and Ultra settings average 41 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 33 FPS, with the largest drop between Low and Medium (18 FPS). At this resolution, all settings above Low fall below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra sits at 41 FPS, which is below playable for many users.

Across all resolutions, Medium settings consistently show the most complete data (including min and max FPS), and the minimum FPS at each resolution and Medium setting (119 at 1080p, 82 at 1440p, 48 at 4K) stays within 10-15% of the average, suggesting stable frame pacing. The maximum FPS figures (161, 110, 65) indicate that the combo has headroom in less demanding scenes, but the averages reflect sustained performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo ranks 1407 out of 2851 tested combinations in Thief, which places it in the 49th percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings. This is a mid-pack ranking that aligns with the hardware's specifications: the CPU is in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The combined rank being lower than either individual percentile suggests that Thief's performance is not purely additive — the game's engine likely places demands that neither component can fully offset.

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core i7-13790F (avgScore 63080, deltaPct 0.1), AMD Ryzen AI 7 450G (avgScore 63331, deltaPct -0.2), AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P185 (avgScore 62839, deltaPct 0.5), and Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX (avgScore 62738, deltaPct 0.7). These deltaPct values are all within 1% of the 265HX's score, meaning the CPU is effectively interchangeable with these parts in compute-heavy tasks. However, in Thief, the CPU is not the limiting factor, so these small differences would not translate into meaningful FPS changes.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (avgScore 37628, deltaPct 0.1), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (avgScore 37507, deltaPct 0.4), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (avgScore 38135, deltaPct -1.3), and AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (avgScore 37157, deltaPct 1.3). The RTX 4070's score of 37648 is within 1.3% of all these parts, indicating that in synthetic benchmarks, the GPU is comparable to a range of desktop and mobile offerings. In Thief, the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (41 FPS) and 1080p Low (184 FPS) reflects the GPU's mid-to-high tier positioning, consistent with its 81st percentile ranking.

The rank of 1407 suggests that while this combo is capable, it is not near the top of the database. Combos with higher-ranked GPUs or CPUs likely achieve higher FPS, particularly at 4K where the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth become more significant. The data implies that users seeking higher 4K performance would need to look at GPUs above the 81st percentile, while those satisfied with 1080p or 1440p gaming would find this combo sufficient.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and the user's preference for smoothness versus visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, all settings are playable, but Ultra (101 FPS) offers only a marginal improvement over High (106 FPS) in terms of performance cost. The data shows that High at 1080p delivers 106 FPS average, which is within 5 FPS of Ultra, making High the recommended preset for a balance of visual quality and headroom. Medium at 1080p (140 FPS) is suitable for high-refresh-rate displays, but the 34 FPS gain over High may not justify the visual downgrade.

At 2560x1440, High settings average 73 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. Medium settings average 96 FPS, with a minimum of 82 FPS, providing a smoother experience with a modest visual reduction. The 23 FPS difference between Medium and High (96 vs 73) makes Medium the recommended preset for 1440p, as it stays comfortably above 60 FPS while maintaining reasonable detail. Ultra at 1440p (70 FPS) is only 3 FPS below High, so users who prioritize visuals could choose Ultra without significant performance loss, but Medium remains the best balance.

At 3840x2160, Low settings average 74 FPS, which is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS. Medium averages 56 FPS, with a minimum of 48 FPS, which may cause noticeable stutter in demanding scenes. High (43 FPS) and Ultra (41 FPS) are below 60 FPS and are not recommended for smooth gameplay. For 4K, the data favors Low settings to maintain playability, or Medium if the user accepts occasional dips below 60 FPS. The 18 FPS drop from Low to Medium (74 to 56) is significant, so users should weigh visual quality against frame rate carefully.

Across all resolutions, the measured data indicates that Medium settings offer the most consistent frame pacing, as evidenced by the available min and max FPS figures. The minimum FPS at Medium (119 at 1080p, 82 at 1440p, 48 at 4K) stays within 15% of the average, suggesting fewer frame-time spikes compared to other presets, where min FPS data is not recorded.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the AD104 chip using Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, with 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU's base clock is 1920 MHz, boosting to 2475 MHz, and its memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer is the third-largest capacity tier in the 40-series lineup, and for Thief, the data shows that this capacity is sufficient even at 4K, as the game's 2014-era assets do not exceed the available VRAM.

The GPU's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s directly influence Thief's performance at higher resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K (74 Low, 56 Medium, 43 High, 41 Ultra) correlates with the increasing pixel and texture loads. The FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS (and FP16 at 1:1) provides ample compute for the game's shader work, but the data suggests that memory bandwidth becomes a constraint at 4K, where the 504.2 GB/s must serve four times the pixels of 1080p.

The GPU's launch MSRP is 599 USD, and its production status is end-of-life, with a successor in the GeForce 50 series. Its average benchmark score of 37648 places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores nearly identically (37628, deltaPct 0.1). The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135 (deltaPct -1.3), meaning the desktop 4070 is only 1.3% slower than a higher-tier mobile part in synthetic tests. In Thief, the GPU's role is clearly the primary driver of FPS, as evidenced by the scaling data: moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings results in roughly 60-70% performance loss, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit bus are adequate for Thief, but users targeting 4K Ultra should note that the 41 FPS average indicates the GPU is at its limit for this title.