Thief

Thief, a 2014 stealth title, remains a demanding benchmark for modern hardware. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data reveals a system capable of high frame rates, but with distinct scaling characteristics that highlight the balance between CPU and GPU load. The combination ranks 190th out of 2851 tested configurations, placing it in the top 6.7% of all combos in this game, a strong result for a title of this era.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline is not uniform across all settings. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p sees frame rates drop from 237 FPS to 194 FPS, a reduction of 43 FPS or roughly 18%. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings brings a further drop from 194 FPS to 114 FPS, a more substantial 41% decrease. This pattern indicates that at lower graphical fidelity, the system is still heavily influenced by CPU performance at lower resolutions, but the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as pixel count doubles.

With Medium settings, the scaling is more linear. The frame rate goes from 214 FPS at 1080p, to 147 FPS at 1440p (a 31% drop), and finally to 87 FPS at 4K (a 41% drop from 1440p). This suggests a more balanced workload where both the CPU and GPU are being taxed proportionally as resolution increases. The consistent percentage drops indicate that the game engine is scaling its resource usage evenly, with neither component becoming an absolute wall.

The High and Ultra presets exhibit the most dramatic scaling at the top end. At High settings, the system achieves 164 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 46 FPS, or 41%. Ultra settings follow a similar pattern: 156 FPS at 1080p, 107 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The performance gap between High and Ultra is relatively small, especially at 4K, where the difference is just 3 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional graphical effects are particularly demanding on the GPU, and at 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER is reaching its limit.

The data clearly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K resolution. At 1080p, the very high frame rates (237 FPS on Low) suggest that the CPU is keeping pace, but the GPU is still the limiting factor for achieving even higher frame rates. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a performance drop of over 50% for all settings, confirming that the rendering resolution is the primary driver of performance. The RTX 4070 SUPER, while powerful, cannot maintain the same frame rates at 4K as it can at lower resolutions, especially when the game's visual complexity is at its highest.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset is entirely viable, with an average FPS of 156. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and offers the highest visual quality. Even the minimum FPS of 182 on the Medium preset at 1080p is exceptionally high, indicating that any setting will provide a fluid experience at this resolution. Pushing for the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 237 FPS is the choice, but the visual sacrifice is significant.

At 1440p, the High preset appears to be the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 112 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. The Ultra preset is also playable at 107 FPS, but the marginal 5 FPS gain from High to Ultra is not substantial. For gamers prioritizing a high refresh rate experience, the Medium preset at 147 FPS is a better choice, providing a significant performance boost while maintaining a good level of detail. The data suggests that the Ultra preset at 1440p is not proportionally more demanding than High, but the frame rate is already high enough that the difference is negligible.

For 4K gaming, the choice becomes more critical. The High preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, hitting 66 FPS. The Ultra preset dips to 63 FPS, which is still technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 87 FPS offers a safer margin and is the recommended setting for a consistently smooth 4K experience. The Low preset, while achieving 114 FPS, would result in a significantly degraded visual experience that is not worth the performance gain at this resolution. The data shows that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Medium preset is the most reliable, while High is the best visual option for those comfortable with frame rates in the mid-60s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER plays a central role in this game's performance, as is evident from the resolution scaling analysis. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This is sufficient for Thief's textures and assets, even at 4K, as the game does not appear to be memory-limited based on the FPS data. The GPU's 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present, but Thief, being a 2014 title, does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, so these features have no direct impact on the measured results. The performance is driven by the raw rasterization power of its 7168 shading units.

The GPU's clocks are a key factor in its performance. The base clock of 1980 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz are high, and the data suggests the card is boosting aggressively to maintain frame rates. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset still manages 63 FPS indicates that the AD104 chip is being pushed to its limits. The GPU's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the fundamental raw throughput that determines how quickly it can process the game's pixel and vertex data. The transition from High to Ultra at 4K only results in a 3 FPS drop (66 to 63), which shows that the Ultra preset's additional effects are less taxing than the resolution jump itself.

Comparing the RTX 4070 SUPER to its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database provides context. Its average benchmark score of 43223 places it just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile. It is a full 1% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile. In the specific context of Thief, these synthetic benchmark scores translate to the solid, but not exceptional, 4K performance we observe. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, and its 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is a high-end part, but not the absolute fastest available.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo to achieve a high refresh rate?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo achieves over 150 FPS on all presets, including the lowest average of 156 FPS on Ultra. For the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset delivers 237 FPS. This makes 1080p the clear choice for high refresh rate displays.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Thief?

A: Yes, it can. The data shows an average of 66 FPS on the High preset and 63 FPS on Ultra at 3840x2160. While these are above the 60 FPS threshold, the Medium preset is a safer choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate, as it provides a 21 FPS buffer at 87 FPS.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the High and Ultra presets?

A: The difference is minimal. At 1080p, the average frame rate drops from 164 FPS on High to 156 FPS on Ultra, a difference of only 5%. At 1440p, the drop is from 112 to 107 FPS, and at 4K, from 66 to 63 FPS. The visual gains from Ultra may not justify the small performance cost.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1080p?

A: While the GPU is still the main renderer, the very high frame rates at 1080p (237 FPS on Low) suggest the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is more than capable of feeding the GPU. The performance is likely still GPU-limited, as even the fastest CPUs would struggle to push frame rates much higher than this in most games.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems tested in Thief?

A: The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER ranks 190th out of 2851 tested combos. This places it in the top 6.7% of all systems, indicating a very high-performance pairing for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. In Thief, a game from 2014, its role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, process game logic, and manage physics. The measured FPS data at 1080p, where the CPU load is typically highest relative to the GPU, shows the processor is performing its duties effectively. The fact that the system can achieve 237 FPS on Low settings at 1080p indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at these lower resolutions. The 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for a game of this era, which was designed for far fewer cores. The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is crucial for single-threaded game logic, and its strong single-core performance is reflected in its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is also a factor. While not as critical as the GPU's memory bandwidth, it ensures that data can be fed to the CPU cores quickly enough to avoid stuttering. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache helps to keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency. In a game like Thief, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's raw single-core speed and cache are more important than its total core count. The data supports this, as the system's performance scales primarily with GPU load as resolution increases, indicating the CPU is not a limiting factor.

The processor's benchmark scores place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 0.2% higher, while the AMD EPYC 4584PX is 1.1% behind. These are marginal differences, and in real-world gaming scenarios, particularly in a title like Thief, these differences would be negligible. The CPU's performance is more than adequate to support the RTX 4070 SUPER, and the system's overall ranking of 190th out of 2851 combos reflects this balanced pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers outstanding performance across all presets. On Low settings, the average FPS is 237. Medium settings produce an average of 214 FPS, with a minimum of 182 and a maximum of 246. High settings yield 164 FPS, and Ultra settings provide 156 FPS. All presets offer a very smooth experience, with even the most demanding Ultra setting maintaining an average well above 144 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance remains high. The Low preset achieves 194 FPS, while Medium delivers 147 FPS, with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169. High settings drop to 112 FPS, and Ultra settings to 107 FPS. The frame rates are still very playable, with the High and Ultra presets providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The Low preset manages 114 FPS, which is still very fast. The Medium preset delivers 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. The High preset produces 66 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 63 FPS. While the High and Ultra presets are just above the 60 FPS line, the Medium preset is the strongest recommendation for a consistently fluid 4K experience, offering a 21 FPS buffer over the 60 FPS target.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is ranked 190th out of 2851 tested combos in Thief. This places the system in the top 6.7% of all configurations tested, an excellent result that reflects the high-end nature of both components. This ranking is a holistic measure of the system's ability to run the game, accounting for the balance between CPU and GPU capabilities. A high rank indicates that neither component is significantly holding the other back.

The strength of the CPU is confirmed by its 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, and its benchmark scores are closely matched with its nearest rivals. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is only 0.2% faster, while the AMD EPYC 4584PX is 1.1% slower. The GPU, while ranking in the 83rd percentile, is also a strong performer, with its average score being nearly identical to the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB. The synergy of these two strong components results in a top-200 placement.

The data indicates that this system is overkill for 1080p gaming in Thief, as it can easily push frame rates to the limits of most displays. It is also a very capable 1440p machine, capable of running the game at maximum settings with high frame rates. At 4K, the system is still powerful enough to provide a playable experience, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor, especially on the High and Ultra presets. The 190th rank is a strong indicator that this combo is a top-tier choice for playing this game, offering a high level of performance across all resolutions.