Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, remains a relevant benchmark for evaluating the balance between modern CPUs and older GPU architectures. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER. The data is drawn from measured results across three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive view of this combination's capabilities in a game that is more than a decade old.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 94 FPS, which is a solidly playable frame rate for a stealth game. However, the High preset at the same resolution offers an average of 99 FPS, a marginal 5 FPS improvement. The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 130 FPS, a substantial 36 FPS advantage over Ultra. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1080p is the optimal choice, as it provides a significant performance boost while still maintaining fidelity above the Low preset, which hits 171 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance gap between presets becomes more pronounced. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 65 FPS, which is still playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable. The High preset at 1440p achieves an average of 68 FPS, offering a negligible improvement over Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution, however, provides a much more comfortable experience with an average of 89 FPS. Given that the visual difference between High and Ultra in this title is often subtle, the Medium preset at 1440p presents the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, ensuring smooth gameplay without the performance penalty of the higher presets.

The 4K results paint a different picture. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages only 38 FPS, and High is not much better at 40 FPS. These frame rates are below the standard for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K reaches an average of 52 FPS, which is a functional, albeit not ideal, experience. The Low preset at 4K manages 69 FPS, making it the only 4K setting that achieves a consistently fluid frame rate. Therefore, for a 4K display, the Low preset is the recommended choice to prioritize frame rate stability, as the higher presets fail to deliver a consistently smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture and utilizes the TU104 chip. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. These specifications are critical in understanding its performance in Thief, a game that is not particularly demanding by modern standards but still relies heavily on the GPU for rendering geometry and textures.

The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU is able to push frame rates above 170 FPS on Low settings, indicating it is not fully saturated at this resolution. However, as the resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the frame rates drop significantly. At 4K with High settings, the average FPS falls to 40, which is less than half of the 99 FPS seen at 1080p. This steep decline is a direct result of the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth being insufficient to handle the increased pixel count at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity is a notable factor. While Thief from 2014 does not require a large frame buffer, the RTX 2070 SUPER's memory allocation is adequate for this title even at 4K. The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K is not due to VRAM exhaustion but rather the computational load on the shading units and ROPs. The GPU's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are the limiting factors at higher resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER, while over a decade old, still provides a competent experience at 1080p and 1440p in Thief, but its age is evident at 4K where it struggles to maintain high frame rates on demanding presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Arrow Lake Refresh generation, built on a 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 44253 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2439 points in single-core. Its PassMark multi-thread score is 68574, and it ranks in the 96th percentile against all CPUs. These scores indicate a very high-end processor with substantial multi-threading capabilities.

In the context of Thief, the CPU's role is less demanding than in modern titles. The game was released in 2014 and does not utilize the full thread count of modern processors. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 171 FPS, which is likely a CPU-limited scenario where the processor's single-core performance is the determining factor. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus's strong single-core score of 5068 in PassMark ensures that it can handle the game's main thread effectively, preventing it from becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

As the resolution increases, the frame rates drop, indicating that the workload shifts from the CPU to the GPU. At 4K, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor, as the GPU is clearly struggling to keep up. The CPU's high boost clock and efficient architecture mean that it does not hinder performance in this game at any resolution. The data suggests that the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus provides ample headroom for Thief, ensuring that the GPU is the sole determinant of frame rate at higher resolutions. The processor's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support further ensure that memory latency is not an issue, allowing for consistent frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1575 out of 2851 tested combos for Thief. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating it is a middle-of-the-pack performer. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the high-end nature of the CPU, but it is dragged down by the comparatively older GPU.

The CPU itself is a top-tier performer, but the GPU's age limits the overall combo's potential. The ranking suggests that while the CPU provides excellent theoretical performance, the RTX 2070 SUPER is not able to fully utilize it in this game. The combo's ranking is likely higher than what the GPU alone would achieve with a weaker CPU, but it is not as high as what the CPU could achieve with a more modern graphics card. The data implies that the system is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the GPU can keep pace with the CPU's capabilities, but it falls behind at 4K where the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of the system's bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 99 at 1080p to 68 at 1440p, a 31% decrease. From 1440p to 4K, the frame rate drops further to 40 FPS, a 41% decrease from 1440p. This steep decline suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, placing an enormous load on the GPU.

At Low settings, the trend is similar. The frame rate drops from 171 FPS at 1080p to 118 FPS at 1440p, a 31% decrease. At 4K, it drops to 69 FPS, a 42% decrease from 1440p. This consistent pattern across different settings presets confirms that the GPU is saturated at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is diminished as resolution increases, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate at 4K is nearly identical regardless of the CPU's theoretical strength. The data indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K, while at 1080p, the CPU and GPU are more balanced, allowing for higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a detailed view of the system's performance.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 171 FPS on Low settings. The Medium preset averages 130 FPS, with a minimum of 111 FPS and a maximum of 150 FPS. The High preset averages 99 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 94 FPS. These results show that the system is capable of high refresh-rate gaming at 1080p, with even the most demanding preset staying above 90 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are lower but still respectable. The Low preset averages 118 FPS. The Medium preset averages 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. The High preset averages 68 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 65 FPS. The minimum frame rate of 76 FPS on Medium suggests that there are occasional dips, but the overall experience remains smooth.

At 3840x2160, the system’s performance is constrained. The Low preset averages 69 FPS. The Medium preset averages 52 FPS, with a minimum of 45 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. The High preset averages 40 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 38 FPS. The minimum frame rate of 45 FPS on Medium indicates that the system can struggle to maintain a consistent frame rate at 4K, with noticeable dips below 60 FPS. These numbers illustrate a clear performance hierarchy that is heavily dependent on resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Thief?

A: The highest average frame rate is 171 FPS, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 69 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 52 FPS. The High and Ultra presets average 40 FPS and 38 FPS, respectively, which are below the standard for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the performance drop from 1080p to 1440p on High settings?

A: The average frame rate on High settings drops from 99 FPS at 1920x1080 to 68 FPS at 2560x1440, a decrease of 31 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this system?

A: The minimum frame rate recorded is 45 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Medium settings preset.

Q: Which component is the primary bottleneck at 4K?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, indicating that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is unable to keep up with the pixel count at this resolution.

Q: What is the system's performance ranking among all tested combos for Thief?

A: This combo ranks 1575 out of 2851 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the pack for this game.