Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a 24-core, 24-thread mobile processor based on Arrow Lake-HX, with a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. In Thief, the measured frames per second (FPS) at 1080p with Low settings reaches 164 FPS, which is a high enough ceiling that the CPU's substantial multi-threaded throughput — evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35,589 — is not the primary constraint at lower resolutions. The 24 threads provide ample headroom for the game's engine, which was released in 2014 and is unlikely to utilize more than a handful of cores, so the single-core performance (a Geekbench single-core score of 2,458) becomes more relevant than the raw core count.

The processor's L3 cache is 36 MB shared, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth. For a stealth title like Thief, which features complex AI and physics calculations, the combination of high single-thread speed and the large shared cache helps maintain consistent frame pacing. The CPU sits in the 94th percentile of all tested processors, placing it within striking distance of rivals like the Intel Xeon w5-3525, which scores 0.3% lower on average, and the AMD EPYC 4484PX, which trails by 0.5%. This indicates the 275HX is a top-tier mobile part, but in Thief specifically, its influence on FPS is most visible when the GPU is not saturated, such as at 1080p with Low settings where the frame rate more than doubles from the 4K High result.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 achieves a rank of 2,242 out of 3,720 tested combos in Thief. This places it in the lower half of the database for this game, which is a notable finding given the strength of the individual components. The rank suggests that while the CPU is elite (94th percentile) and the GPU is above average (61st percentile), their pairing does not translate to top-tier results in this particular title, likely due to the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher settings.

The GPU's percentile rank of 61 puts it near the AMD Radeon 780M, which scores 0.3% lower on average, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560, which trails by 0.5%. In Thief, this means the RTX 4060 is a mid-pack performer relative to the entire GPU landscape, which explains why the combo rank hovers around the 60th percentile (2,242/3,720). The data shows that the 275HX's nearest rivals in pure CPU benchmarks — such as the Intel Xeon w5-3525 and AMD EPYC 4484PX — would likely produce similar combo rankings if paired with the same GPU, since the bottleneck shifts to the graphics card as resolution and settings increase.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling trend from 1080p to 4K across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 95 at 1920x1080 to 65 at 2560x1440, then down to 38 at 3840x2160. This represents a 31.6% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 41.5% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The pattern indicates that the RTX 4060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth are increasingly stressed as pixel count grows, which is consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 164 FPS at 1080p drops to 113 FPS at 1440p (a 31.1% decrease) and then to 66 FPS at 4K (a 41.6% decrease from 1440p). This consistent ~30-40% drop between each resolution step suggests that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary limits, rather than the CPU. The Ultra preset shows the same pattern, with 90 FPS at 1080p falling to 62 FPS at 1440p and 36 FPS at 4K. The fact that the 4K Ultra result (36 FPS) is nearly identical to the 4K High result (38 FPS) indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily saturated that additional settings changes have minimal impact on average frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of playability across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 164 FPS, Medium yields 125 FPS (with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143), High delivers 95 FPS, and Ultra drops to 90 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 30 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 5 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset maintains a high average, indicating the CPU and GPU combination is well-suited for high refresh rate displays at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS at Low is 113, Medium is 86 (min 73, max 98), High is 65, and Ultra is 62. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is substantial across all presets, with the Low preset losing 51 FPS, Medium losing 39 FPS, High losing 30 FPS, and Ultra losing 28 FPS. Interestingly, the gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 3 FPS at 1440p, reinforcing that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck. At 3840x2160, the results are 66 FPS on Low, 50 FPS on Medium (min 43, max 58), 38 FPS on High, and 36 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing a 15 FPS variance, which likely reflects scene complexity in Thief's stealth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 3,072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output pipelines. Its base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it has 24 ray tracing cores and 96 tensor cores. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specs position it as a mainstream mobile GPU, and the Thief data confirms this role: at 1080p Low, the 164 FPS result shows the GPU can handle the game's demands, but at 4K Ultra, the 36 FPS average reveals its limitations.

The GPU's FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s. In Thief, the shift from 1080p to 4K at the same settings causes a 58-60% reduction in average FPS, which directly correlates with the 4x increase in pixel count (from ~2 million to ~8.3 million pixels). Since the CPU's performance is consistent across resolutions (its percentile rank doesn't change), the FPS drops are attributable to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints. The 128-bit memory bus, while adequate for 1080p, becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU's direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks — like the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which scores 0.2% higher on average — suggest the RTX 4060 is a mid-tier part that excels at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience in Thief depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is viable with 90 FPS average, making it the best choice for maximizing visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. If higher frame rates are preferred, the High preset at 95 FPS offers a 5.6% improvement over Ultra, but the visual differences between High and Ultra are likely minimal given the small performance gap.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 65 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a solid frame rate for a stealth game where consistent pacing matters more than raw speed. The Medium preset at 86 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize frame rate over detail, but the drop to Ultra (62 FPS) offers only a marginal improvement over High (65 FPS) while reducing performance. For 4K, the data indicates that only the Low preset (66 FPS) achieves a truly smooth experience, while Medium (50 FPS) is playable but not ideal. The High (38 FPS) and Ultra (36 FPS) presets at 4K fall below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider acceptable for a stealth game, so they are not recommended. The 4K Medium preset, with its min FPS of 43, shows that even the minimum frame rate stays above 40, making it the highest preset that maintains playable lows at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 275HX has an average benchmark score of 67,469, placing it 0.3% below the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (67,673), 0.5% below the AMD EPYC 4484PX (67,822), and 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (67,868). It is 0.7% above the Intel Xeon 6515P (67,006).

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS at High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 65, which exceeds 60. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves 95 FPS. At 3840x2160, the High preset only reaches 38 FPS, so 1440p is the maximum resolution for 60+ FPS on High.

Q: How much performance is gained by using Low settings instead of Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 66 FPS, while Ultra achieves 36 FPS. This represents an 83.3% increase in average frame rate when switching from Ultra to Low at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 4060's 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for Thief at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo only reaches 36 FPS, and at 4K High it is 38 FPS. The 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth appear to limit performance at this resolution, as frame rates drop below playable levels despite the VRAM capacity.

Q: What is the frame time variance at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 86, with a minimum of 73 and a maximum of 98. This creates a variance of 25 FPS between the minimum and maximum, indicating some scene-to-scene variability.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations in Thief?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX paired with the RTX 4060 ranks 2,242 out of 3,720 tested combos in Thief, placing it in the 60.3rd percentile of all configurations.