Thief

The pairing of a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with Intel's integrated Arc B390 graphics in Thief produces a starkly lopsided result. The processor sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the integrated GPU lands in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. In the game's measured combination list, this duo ranks 3307th out of 3,720 combos, and the recorded frame rates make it clear that the graphics component is the sole bottleneck in nearly every setting and resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo occupies the 3307th position out of 3,720 tested combinations in Thief, placing it in the lowest 11% of all pairings. The CPU, an Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, is a powerhouse with a 96th percentile score among all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B390 GPU is in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The delta between these two components explains the result: the processor has enough performance to feed any discrete graphics card, but the integrated Arc B390 cannot translate that headroom into frame rate. In the benchmark database, this combo lands just ahead of the last tier of build options, joining a list dominated by devices with weak or outdated graphics. The data suggests that the rank is almost entirely determined by the GPU, as the CPU’s own nearest rival scores (Intel Xeon 6520P at 93,786 points, AMD EPYC 4564P at 95,183, AMD EPYC 9175F at 95,615, and AMD EPYC 4565P at 95,764) differ by no more than 2.1% in overall CPU benchmarks. The combo rank in Thief, however, is not tied to the CPU’s synthetic scores but to how the integrated graphics handle the game’s workload. The 9th-percentile GPU alone positions the entire system near the bottom, overlooking the CPU’s outstanding multithreaded capability.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics unit based on the Xe3-LPG architecture and Panther Lake chip. It carries 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output pipelines, with 12 ray-tracing cores. Clock speeds are measured at a base 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. Its raw compute capability is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32, and 15.36 TFLOPS for FP16 with 2:1 ratio. The memory configuration is entirely system shared, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; the data bus width, bandwidth, and transfer rate are all system-dependent. This is a decisive limitation for a memory-intensive game like Thief. The GPU’s sole synthetic benchmark in the pack, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, yields a score of 1482, which positions it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. In the nearest-rival table, the closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX with an average score of 1463, followed by the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443, with delta percentages of 1.3, 1.5, 2.5, and 2.7 respectively. These numbers confirm that the Arc B390 is operating at the very entry level of gaming. The device is rated for a TDP of 80 watts, uses PCIe Gen 5 as an integrated solution, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Even though the API support is modern, the physical hardware cannot drive high frame rates in a 2014 title except at the most reduced settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates illustrate how the GPU’s limitation scale with pixel count. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 86 at the Low preset down to 48 at Ultra. When the resolution increases to 2560x1440, those numbers drop to 59 and 33 respectively. Moving to 3840x2160 yields just 35 (Low) to 19 (Ultra). Measuring the drop across settings: at Low, the 1080p value of 86 falls to 59 at 1440p and 35 at 2160p. At Medium, the 1080p fences have 66, 45 at 1440p, and 26 at 2160p. High settings, which start at 50 at 1080p, drop to 34 and then 20 as the render load climbs. Ultra is the most demanding, giving 48 at 1080p, 33 at 1440p, and 19 at the 4K mark. The monotonic degradation shows that the integrated GPU is fundamentally limited by the number of pixels it must fill each second. Because the CPU is far above the requirements of Thief, the frame rate loss is attributable exclusively to the GPU’s impossibility to keep up with the increased work. The pattern also matches the casual expectation: fixed resolution changes have a direct impact on the fill rate demand, and the Arc B390’s 24 ROPs are not enough to handle more than a 1080p low preset for a consistent gaming experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured rows, the highest average frame count is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, returning 86 frames per second. That is the only measured configuration that reaches playable territory under the 60 FPS overlay. The next step, Medium, provides 66 FPS at the same resolution, which is also respectable, but the 20% drop from Low might be noted by players who prefer a stable framerate without looks. High at 1080p yields an average of 50 FPS, and Ultra only 48. For anyone aiming for smoothness, the data points strongly to 1080p Low or Medium. At 1440p even Low does not exceed 59 FPS, and at 4K the highest on record is 35 FPS (also at Low). The game’s dated engine allows for 60 FPS maybe only one preset. The measured 0-60 differences are consistent with the GPU’s limited fill rate; the highest FPS is 86 and the lowest average is 19 (at 4K Ultra). In the absence of any in-game dynamic scalars, the graph is clear that pushing settings beyond Low at higher resolutions quickly becomes unworkable. If a player insists on a stable 60 FPS lock, the only way to reach it is the 1920x1080 Low combo; no other resolution/setting pair in this dataset exceeds 60 after dropping to 59 at 1440p. Therefore, the recommended experience based purely on quantitative performance is the 1080 Low preset, balancing playability and visual output given the hardware constraints.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The midpoint of the 3840x2160 Medium row is 26 FPS, with a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 30.

Q: What is the highest measured FPS in the entire dataset?

A: The best result is 86 frames at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. No other tested configuration meets that average.

Q: How does this combo’s rank compare to other tested combos?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus + Intel Arc B390 ranks 3307th out of 3,720 documented combos, placing it within the bottom quarter of the list.

Q: Which resolution yields the biggest leap in FPS when switching from Low to Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160, the recorded average goes from 35 FPS (Low) down to 19 FPS (Ultra), a difference of 16 FPS. In 1080p, the same preset change drops from 86 to 48, a difference of 38.

Q: Does the CPU’s benchmark advantage affect the game’s frames?

A: No. The CPU has a 24-core/24-thread configuration with a 96th percentile ranking effectively a idle resource, while the GPU is the sole limit, as evidenced by the poor performance levels across resolutions.

Q: What is the GPU’s nearest competitor based on synthetic score?

A: The closest NVIDIA challenger is the GT 520MX with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1463, while the Arc hits 1482. The deltaPct between them is 1.3, meaning the Intel part is slightly ahead in that one measure.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus belongs to the Core Ultra Series 2 and is built on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename with a 3 nm process from TSMC, using a 17.8-billion-transistor design and a die size of 243 mm². It has 24 cores and 24 threads with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, and its Thermal Design Power is 125 W. The L3 cache is 36 MB shared, L2 is 3 MB the per core, and L1 is 192KB per core. The memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel, and it has a memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s. It supports ECC and processor is unlocked, and it operates on the LGA 1851 socket with PCIe 5.0, 20 CPU lanes. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks confirm its strength: Cinebench R23’s multi-core score is 44,253, single-core 2,439; Cinebench R20 multi-core 24,461, single-core 3,453; Cinebench R15 multi-core 6,656, single-core 354. The PassMark suite shows 68,574 multithread performance, 5,068 single-thread, and floating-point math 364,491. Characteristically, the CPU sits in the 96th percentile of all processors. Its nearest rivals – Intel Xeon 6520P, AMD EPYC 4564P, AMD EPYC 9175F, and AMD EPYC 4565P – all within a -2.1% to 0% deltaPct in the synthetic average. The CPU’s launch MSRP was $299 (specified in the product data). Notably, the CPU’s 24-core count is impressive, but Thief is a 2014 stealth game that does not require such computational resources. The measured FPS at all resolutions is consistently limited by the GPU; the CPU role in this specific game is a passive substrate, having no effect on the limiting factor. That is why the benchmark shows the CPU performing at the top of its kind while the game struggles to keep a 60 FPS mark.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table reproduces all recorded FPS measurements as found in the data pack, with no averages derived beyond those given.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS | Minimum | Maximum |

|------------|----------|-------------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 20 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 35 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 26 | 22 | 30 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 19 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 34 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 59 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 45 | 38 | 52 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 33 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 50 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 86 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 66 | 56 | 75 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 48 | — | — |

All figures are average frames per second based on the original measurement. No min/max fields were provided for the other rows, so those cells remain empty. The highest average is 86 at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 19 at 4K Ultra. The medium preset at 4K does have 22 (min, 30 (max)**. The data set is consistent across rows, with the 1080p Medium row providing the only minimum‑maximum pair other than the 4K Medium. These numbers fully capture the measured behavior; they also show that Thief cannot reach a 60 FPS average at any other resolution proven, and the one console-style option is Low ▶1080p. The drop from 86 to 59 between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is a direct of the GPU’s pixel capacity, and the drop from 59 to 35 at 2160p is even steeper. The GPU’s inability to process the higher pixel counts is the primary factor behind the results.

The overall data paints a clear picture: the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with its high-end desktop profile is entirely outclassed by the integrated Arc B390, which is far too weak to leverage the CPU’s potential. For Thief, the pair returns playable at best at 1080p Low, and the game will never approach high frame rates at higher resolutions. This combination is a textbook example of a CPU-heavy system running an iGPU that finds itself at the lower end of the global scoring.