Thief

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K a strong match for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER in Thief?

A: The data shows a balanced pairing for this 2014 stealth title. The CPU sits at the 97th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. This combination ranks 1111th out of 1642 tested combos for Thief specifically, indicating the pairing works but is not at the top of the database.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average benchmark score of 19774 places it just 0.3% above the GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% above the RTX 2070 (19680). The gap to the Quadro K5200 is 0.8%, and the Tesla K40m trails by 1.3%. These are extremely tight margins, meaning the performance class is well-established.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 4K for this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers 64.2 FPS, while Medium drops to 50.9 FPS. High and Ultra fall to 33.4 and 35.0 FPS respectively. For a smooth 4K experience, Low is the only preset that clears 60 FPS, while Medium remains playable if 50 FPS is acceptable.

Q: Does raising settings from Low to Ultra scale consistently across resolutions?

A: No. At 1080p, Low hits 155.5 FPS and Ultra drops to 85.4 FPS — a 45% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 108.8 to 60.5 FPS (44% reduction). At 4K, the fall is from 64.2 to 35.0 FPS (45% reduction). The percentage impact is remarkably consistent, suggesting the settings scaling is uniform across resolutions.

Q: How much headroom does the CPU have over the GPU in this game?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K scores 50009 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 7060 in single-core. The RTX 2060 SUPER's PassMark G3D score is 16462. Given the game is from 2014, the CPU is likely not the limiting factor at most settings, though the data does not include component-specific utilization metrics.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1111 out of 1642 imply about this pairing's efficiency?

A: Being in the 68th percentile of all tested combos suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER holds the pairing back relative to top-tier configurations. The CPU's 97th percentile standing versus the GPU's 63rd percentile creates a notable imbalance — the processor has far more headroom than the graphics card can utilize.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Turing architecture (TU106 chip) runs at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The memory clock is 1750 MHz, translating to 14 Gbps effective. These specifications place it at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774.

For Thief, the 8 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient given the game's 2014 release date. The measured FPS data shows that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor — at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 155.5 FPS, which is well beyond what most displays can show. The GPU's FP32 performance of 7.181 TFLOPS and texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s provide ample raw compute for this stealth title's rendering demands.

The RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest rival, the RTX 2070, scores 19680 — just 0.5% lower. This indicates the performance envelope is tightly packed around the 19700 mark. The GPU's PassMark DirectX 11 score of 130 and DirectX 12 score of 61 show the card's API versatility, though Thief's engine relies on older DirectX paths where the card's DirectX 9 score of 218 proves more relevant.

At 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 35.0 FPS, which suggests the graphics card is the primary constraint at high resolutions and settings. The transition from Low to Ultra at 4K cuts FPS nearly in half (64.2 to 35.0), demonstrating that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are being taxed heavily by the higher preset complexity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor built on Arrow Lake architecture at TSMC's 3 nm node. It operates with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, drawing 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 30 MB shared L3. Memory support is dual-channel DDR5 with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, and the CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes.

This processor sits at the 97th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79102. Its nearest rival, the Core Ultra 7 265KF, scores 79240 (0.2% higher), while the Core i9-14900KF matches at 79245 (0.2% higher). The i9-14900K trails by 0.9% at 79824, and the EPYC 7413 leads by 1.2% at 80041. These margins are negligible, placing the 265K in elite company.

In Thief, the CPU's single-thread performance is likely the more relevant metric, given the game's age. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060 and PassMark single-thread score of 4904 indicate strong per-core throughput. Multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core: 50009) is exceptional but likely underutilized by a 2014 title that predates widespread multi-core optimization.

The CPU's 20 threads provide massive headroom over what Thief can leverage. Even at 1080p Low where the combo hits 155.5 FPS, the CPU is unlikely to be the bottleneck — the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking suggests it limits performance long before the processor's capabilities are exhausted.

How This Combo Ranks

This pairing ranks 1111th out of 1642 tested combos for Thief, placing it in the 68th percentile of all configurations in the database. The rank reflects the substantial gap between the CPU's 97th percentile standing and the GPU's 63rd percentile position. In practical terms, this combo outperforms roughly two-thirds of tested systems in Thief, but it sits well below the top-tier configurations that pair high-end CPUs with flagship GPUs.

The data suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the constraining component. If the CPU were paired with a stronger GPU, the combo rank would likely improve significantly — the 265K has the compute headroom to feed much faster graphics cards. Conversely, the GPU's performance ceiling is evident in the measured FPS: even at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 155.5 FPS, which is excellent but not class-leading for a 20-core processor.

The rank of 1111 out of 1642 also reflects the GPU's age. The RTX 2060 SUPER is end-of-life, released in 2019, while the CPU is from 2024. This generational mismatch explains why the combo lands in the middle of the distribution rather than near the top.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 155.5 FPS on Low, 120.4 FPS on Medium, 90.1 FPS on High, and 85.4 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 70.1 FPS, representing a 45% reduction. The step from Low to Medium costs 35.1 FPS, while Medium to High costs 30.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 4.7 FPS — the smallest incremental drop.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low produces 108.8 FPS, Medium 83.3 FPS, High 63.6 FPS, and Ultra 60.5 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra reduction is 48.3 FPS (44%). Notably, the High-to-Ultra gap shrinks to just 3.1 FPS, making Ultra nearly free at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Low yields 64.2 FPS, Medium 50.9 FPS, High 33.4 FPS, and Ultra 35.0 FPS. Interestingly, Ultra slightly outperforms High at 4K (35.0 vs 33.4 FPS), which is likely measurement variance but worth noting. The Low-to-Ultra drop is 29.2 FPS (45%), consistent with other resolutions.

The 1080p Ultra result of 85.4 FPS and 1440p High result of 63.6 FPS stand out as particularly playable sweet spots, while 4K High dips below 35 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 85.4 FPS is the clear choice — it delivers high frame rates while maximizing visual quality. If a higher refresh rate is the priority, Medium at 120.4 FPS offers a substantial boost with only one settings tier drop.

At 1440p, Ultra at 60.5 FPS is viable for 60 Hz monitors, though High at 63.6 FPS provides a small margin of extra smoothness. Medium at 83.3 FPS is the best option for higher refresh rate panels, balancing visual fidelity with speed.

For 4K, Low at 64.2 FPS is the only preset that meets the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 50.9 FPS remains playable for those who prefer visual quality over frame rate, but High and Ultra (33.4 and 35.0 FPS respectively) fall below the 40 FPS playability floor for most users.

The data shows that Medium is the most balanced preset across all resolutions — it delivers 120.4 FPS at 1080p, 83.3 FPS at 1440p, and 50.9 FPS at 4K, offering a consistent experience without the steep performance penalties of High or Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by approximately 30% across all settings (155.5 to 108.8 FPS on Low, 120.4 to 83.3 FPS on Medium, 90.1 to 63.6 FPS on High, 85.4 to 60.5 FPS on Ultra). Moving from 1440p to 4K incurs a further 40-45% drop (108.8 to 64.2 FPS on Low, 83.3 to 50.9 FPS on Medium, 63.6 to 33.4 FPS on High, 60.5 to 35.0 FPS on Ultra).

This scaling pattern reveals that the GPU becomes progressively more limiting as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU's strong single-thread performance helps push frame rates high, but the GPU's shading throughput and memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) struggle to keep pace at 4K. The consistent 45% reduction from Low to Ultra across all resolutions suggests the settings scaling is resolution-independent, but the absolute FPS values show the GPU is the bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

The fact that 4K Ultra (35.0 FPS) slightly exceeds 4K High (33.4 FPS) is an anomaly worth investigating — it could indicate driver-level optimizations or measurement error, but the close values suggest both presets are GPU-limited in a similar manner. Overall, this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for Low or Medium settings.