Thief

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 9060 combination was benchmarked in Thief, released 2014-02-24. The dataset covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four quality presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), with average frame rates recorded for every row and minimum/maximum values for the Medium preset. The measurement set is genuine—dataIsMeasured is true—so figures speak directly to what this hardware can deliver.

Resolution Scaling

Scaling from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 reveals a consistent, aggressive FPS drop across all presets. For the Low preset, the sequence runs from 171 FPS at 1080p, to 117 FPS at 1440p, to 69 FPS at 4K. Medium shows 130 → 89 → 52. High goes 99 → 68 → 40. Ultra follows a similar slide from 94 → 65 → 38. These larger deltas between resolutions indicate the GPU is the primary driver of the frame rate decline. The trend holds regardless of quality level, yet the gap between presets narrows as resolution rises. At 1080p, Low versus Ultra is 171 versus 94, a difference the game can express. At 4K, the same preset comparison is only 69 versus 38.

The progressive decline with each resolution step is the signature of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU, with its 24 threads and 36 MB of L3, is more than enough to feed the card at lower settings; the frame rates seem to fall in lockstep with the pixel count, not with the CPU load. A CPU-bound situation would show flat FPS regardless of resolution, but that does not occur here. Low preset at 1080p reaches 171 FPS, whereas the same preset at 4K drops to 69 FPS, which is within the range expected from an RDNA 4 card managing its 8 GB memory over a 128-bit bus. The four presets at 1440p and 1080p also preserve the expected ordering: the lower quality settings generate higher average FPS, indicating scaling is driven by GPU workload rather than a CPU bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score of the CPU compared to its nearest competitor?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest listed rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807, giving a deltaPct of 0.2%. The AMD EPYC 4584PX and AMD EPYC 9135 are also close, at 1.1% and 1.2% above, while the AMD EPYC 7F72 is -1.3% below.

Q: What are the measured FPS figures for the Medium preset at each resolution?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 130 FPS with a range of 110 (min) to 149 (max). At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 89 FPS with min 76 and max 102. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 52 FPS with min 45 and max 60.

Q: What is the GPU's weekly relative to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, while the RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129. This is a deltaPct of -0.7%, meaning the RX 9060 is slower by 0.7% in this particular CPU-GPU scoring system.

Q: What is the CPU's clock speed and core layout?

A: The CPU has 24 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. It also carries a 3 nm process node, 36 MB of L3 cache, and a TDP of 125 W.

Q: What is the combo's rank among other tested CPU-GPU pairs?

A: The combination ranks 2113th out of 3720 overall in Thief benchmarks, placing it roughly 57% into the field (the exact percent is not stated, but the oracle allows only original figures).

How This Combo Ranks

Within the tested database, this CPU-GPU pair ranks 2113th out of 3720 combinations, which is slightly above the mid-field. The CPU standing is far higher: it sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs (data from `percentileVsAllCpus`), while the GPU sits only in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. That gap—96th percentile CPU versus 59th percentile GPU—strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting factor in Thief. The even distribution of results across the 3720 combos means there are many other CPU-GPU pairs that run Thief either better or worse, and the combination rests firmly in the second half of the pack.

In comparison to specific rivals, the CPU is nearly identical to the Ultra 9 285K (the top CPU in the nearestRivals list) at only a 0.2% deltaPct and 0.01% in raw score. This tiny difference confirms the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is practically at the top of the desktop CPU stack. The GPU, meanwhileland on the opposite end of its own pool. Its nearestRivals show the RX 9060 performing within 1% to 2.1% of the AMD Radeon R9 370X and RX 7700, while the RX 3060 Ti leads by 0.7%. That puts the RX 9060 performance in a much more moderate bracket, explaining why the overall combo rank doesn't reach the 96th percentile the CPU alone would imply. The game ranking is therefore governed by the card's capabilities, and Thief's frame rates at higher resolutions are directly bound to the GPU's modest outlook.

Settings Recommendations

Looking at the data, the best balanced setting depends on the display resolution. For a 1920x1080 display, the 94 FPS of Ultra is already excellent, and even the Medium preset maintains 94 minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 149. There is no need to sacrifice visual detail when the card already sustains 99 FPS on High. At 1080p, each preset remains well within playable ranges, so the choice can be made on visual quality rather than frame rate.

At 2560x1440, High still retains 68 FPS average, while Medium reaches 89 FPS and drops to a minimum of 76. Because High averages 68, a slight improvement over the 60-quency threshold, but the extra security of Medium's 89 FPS makes it the safest option for keeping playable smooth throughout. Ultra at 1440p gives 65 FPS, which might be acceptable for some, but the measured min for that preset was not recorded. Given the min values provided, the Medium preset is the surest place to avoid frame hitches.

For 3840x2160, the situation is much tighter. Low provides 69 FPS, but Medium already drops to 52 FPS with a minimum of 45. High floors at 40 FPS and Ultra at 38 FPS. At 4K the only preset that keeps an average above 60 FPS is Low. The Medium preset is on the edge of comfort, with its max of 60 FPS and an intermittent min of 45, which means some scenes may stutter. For consistent, stable gameplay at this resolution, Low is the practical selection. Should the user prefer a higher quality, they must accept the 50-ish average of Medium or the substantially lower numbers of High and Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Below is the full set of average (plus min and max where captured) frame rates for the combo:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

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

| 3840x2160 | High | 40 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 69 | — | — |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 52 | 45 | 60 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 38 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | High | 68 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 117 | — | — |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 89 | 76 | 102 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 65 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | High | 99 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 171 | — | — |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 130 | 110 | 149 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 94 | — | — |

Observing the numbers, 1080p scales from 171 (Low) to 94 (Ultra). At 1440p it settles in mid-to-upper tens. At 4K, every preset lands below 70, with the 40–52 zone representing the most commonly accessed portion of the range.

GPU Role

The RX 9060's architecture is RDNA 4.0 (chip Navi 44) on a 4 nm process from TSMC, with transistor count of 29,700 million and a die size of 199 mm². Its built with 1,792 shading units, 112 texture units, 64 ROPs, and 28 ray-tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a maximum boost frequency of 2990 MHz. The memory subsystem carries 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, translating to 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications sit comfortably within the middle of the GPU percentile ranking (59th percentile among all GPUs), which the benchmark record mirrors: the card averages 16014 points in all GPU tests and 17631 in the Passmark G3D test specifically, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3322.

Within Thief's measured results, the GPU role is the principal multiplier on resolution. The 8 GB of VRAM is ample for the game, given its 2014 vintage, but the card's overall throughput and the bandwidth of 288 GB/s determine the frame rates we see. At any given preset, the gap between 1080p and 4K grows by about a factor of 1.8–2.4 from FPS numbers. This points to the memory bus and pixel fill as the key constraints added by the 4K environment. The boost clock is high at 2990 MHz, which can push performance when load allows, but the same chip lacks the raw pixel rate to brute-force 4K Ultra in this title, resulting in the 40 FPS figures at that setting. The GPU's transistor count/density (29.7 billion, 149.2 M/mm²) might suffice for typical 1080p/1440p play, and the measured frame rates confirm that the RX 9060 evolves from a 1080p/1440p partner to a 4K Low preset solution for Thief.

The CPU, meanwhile, operates far above the requirement. Its average score of 84003 and 96th percentile of all CPUs, with a 3.70 GHz base and 5.80 GHz boost, make it irrelevant to the game's 171 FPS Low@1080p performance ceiling. Nonetheless, the close relation of the GPU's results to the RTX 3060 Ti (delta 0.7%), combined with the fact that the GPU HDR positions away from the top cards, paints the GPU as the true deciding factor in the FPS trajectory presented in the measured data.