Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a measured performance envelope in Thief ranging from 232 FPS at 1080p Low to 57 FPS at 4K Ultra. This combination ranks 489th out of 3720 recorded configurations for this game, placing it in the top percentile of tested systems. The data presented here covers all four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160), with additional frame time minimums and maximums recorded for the Medium preset. This analysis interprets those numbers in the context of the CPU and GPU specifications, benchmark scores, and nearest rival comparisons.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS table shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset delivers a disproportionate performance gain over High and Ultra at every resolution, while retaining a solid margin over the 60 FPS baseline. At 1080p, Medium averages 194 FPS, which is 46 FPS above High (148) and 53 FPS above Ultra (141). Only the Low preset exceeds Medium, at 232 FPS, but that comes with a significant visual quality reduction. At 1440p, Medium holds 133 FPS, compared to 101 FPS on High and 97 FPS on Ultra; Low reaches 175 FPS. At 4K, Medium still achieves 78 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 60 FPS and 57 FPS respectively, and Low produces 103 FPS. The Medium preset is the only setting that provides both a 60 FPS average at 4K and a 194 FPS average at 1080p, making it the most flexible choice across all resolutions.

The Medium preset also offers the only recorded frame time extremes: at 1080p, the minimum is 165 FPS and the maximum is 223 FPS, giving a 58 FPS spread. At 1440p, the spread is 113 to 153 FPS (40 FPS difference), and at 4K it is 67 to 90 FPS (23 FPS difference). These ranges indicate that Medium maintains a tighter frame delivery than the other presets, which lack min/max data. For players who want to avoid the visual compromises of Low while keeping frame rates comfortably above refresh thresholds, Medium is the empirical sweet spot.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Arrow Lake architecture, based on a 3nm process. It has a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with a multicore Cinebench R23 score of 35589 and a single-core score of 2204. The PassMark multithread score is 55759, and the single-thread score is 4713. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 67469, which places it within 0.3% of the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (average 67673) and 0.5% of the AMD EPYC 4484PX (average 67822). It is also 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (average 67868) and 0.7% below the Intel Xeon 6515P (average 67006).

In Thief, the CPU’s role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the system delivers 232 FPS. That frame rate indicates that the processor can feed the GPU without creating a bottleneck at that resolution, even with the game’s modest CPU demands. The high single-thread performance (5.40 GHz boost) helps with the game’s primary thread, while the 24-core capacity provides headroom for any background tasks. The data shows that at 1080p, all presets exceed 141 FPS, which is well above the threshold where a CPU would be the limiting factor. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as indicated by the disproportionate FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p and 4K. The CPU’s memory support for dual-channel DDR5 and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth contributes to overall system performance, though the game itself does not directly test these metrics.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU with 16384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The core clocks are 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU’s benchmark scores include a PassMark G3D score of 38194 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223. Its average benchmark score is 60347, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is effectively tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (average 60326, 0.0% difference), 0.3% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (average 60140), 2.5% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (average 61896), and 2.9% faster than the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (average 58657).

In Thief, the GPU’s 24 GB memory capacity is far beyond the game’s requirements, and its high bandwidth ensures that resolution scaling does not cause severe frame drops. At 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 57 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold; at 4K High, it reaches 60 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it jumps to 78 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets: at Low, the average drops from 232 to 103 FPS; at Medium, from 194 to 78 FPS; at High, from 148 to 60 FPS; and at Ultra, from 141 to 57 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as the FPS reduction is proportionally similar across all settings. The 24 GB VRAM ensures that no texture or geometry data is offloaded to system memory, but the raw compute throughput of the AD102 chip becomes the bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average is 232 FPS, measured at 1920×1080 with the Low preset.

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

A: The combo ranks 489th out of 3720 total configurations, placing it in the top 13% of tested systems.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s.

Q: Which preset provides the highest average FPS at 4K while staying above 60 FPS?

A: At 4K, the Low preset averages 103 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 78 FPS. High and Ultra average 60 FPS and 57 FPS, respectively, so only Low and Medium exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX has an average benchmark score of 67469, which is 0.3% lower than the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (67673) and 0.5% lower than the AMD EPYC 4484PX (67822).

Q: What is the GPU’s launch MSRP?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a consistent pattern of performance reduction as resolution increases. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 232 at 1080p to 175 at 1440p and 103 at 4K. This is a decrease of 57 FPS (from 1080p to 1440p) and another 72 FPS (from 1440p to 4K). At Medium, the values are 194, 133, and 78 FPS, representing a drop of 61 FPS then 55 FPS. At High, the sequence is 148, 101, and 60 FPS, a drop of 47 FPS then 41 FPS. At Ultra, the numbers are 141, 97, and 57 FPS, a drop of 44 FPS then 40 FPS.

The absolute FPS losses become smaller as the preset quality increases, but the percentage reduction is similar across presets. For example, from 1080p to 1440p, the reduction is roughly 25–30% of the 1080p value for all presets; from 1440p to 4K, the reduction is roughly 40–45%. This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the dominant constraint at 4K, while at 1080p the system is not limited by either component, as evidenced by the high frame rates across all settings. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, which aligns with the GPU’s compute characteristics: doubling the pixel count (1080p to 4K) imposes a heavier load than a 77% increase (1440p to 4K). The data suggests that for a 4K display, the Medium preset is the only quality level that maintains an average above 60 FPS, while for 1440p or 1080p, even Ultra stays above 97 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table lists the exact average FPS values for each resolution and preset combination, along with the min/max recorded for the Medium preset.

| Resolution | Preset | Average FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

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

| 1920×1080 | Low | 232 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | Medium | 194 | 165 | 223 |

| 1920×1080 | High | 148 | – | – |

| 1920×1080 | Ultra | 141 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Low | 175 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Medium | 133 | 113 | 153 |

| 2560×1440 | High | 101 | – | – |

| 2560×1440 | Ultra | 97 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Low | 103 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Medium | 78 | 67 | 90 |

| 3840×2160 | High | 60 | – | – |

| 3840×2160 | Ultra | 57 | – | – |

All measurements were recorded under the game’s default settings for each preset. The table confirms that Medium is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 4K, and it does so with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is still above the typical 60 Hz refresh. At 1080p and 1440p, all presets produce frame rates well above 60 FPS, with the Low preset reaching the highest values. The data indicates that the system is well-balanced for Thief, with the CPU and GPU both capable of delivering high performance, though the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.