Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a playable Hitman 2 experience at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 4K across all tested presets. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 77.9 FPS on High settings, while at 2560x1440 it reaches 68.9 FPS on Medium—both clearing the 60 FPS playability bar. The data shows a steep performance cliff at 3840x2160, where even Low settings only produce 45.5 FPS, making 4K unplayable by the 60 FPS standard. The strongest result is 140.7 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1920x1080 resolution?

A: The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, which averages 77.9 FPS. Ultra falls just below the threshold at 59.1 FPS, while Medium and Low produce 107.1 FPS and 140.7 FPS respectively.

Q: Can this PC handle 2560x1440 at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only with Medium settings, which average 68.9 FPS. High settings drop to 53.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38.1 FPS. Low settings reach 87.4 FPS, so Medium is the highest visually demanding preset that maintains playability.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with this combination?

A: No. The verdict data lists no playable settings at 3840x2160. The highest average FPS at 4K is 45.5 on Low, with Medium at 36.6, High at 26.8, and Ultra at 20.1—all well below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14400F compare to its nearest rival in CPU benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, placing it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2% (32354) and leads the Intel Core i7-12800H by 0.5% (32121).

Q: What GPU performance tier does the Intel Arc B580 occupy?

A: The Arc B580 sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, scores 23061 (0.2% higher), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895 (0.6% lower) and the RTX 3080 scores 23172 (0.7% higher).

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems?

A: This specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 2798 out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the optimal preset is High, delivering an average of 77.9 FPS. This is the most demanding setting that maintains at least 60 FPS, with Ultra barely missing the mark at 59.1 FPS. The scaling from High to Ultra costs roughly 19 FPS, while dropping to Medium gains 29.2 FPS over High.

For 2560x1440, the best playable preset is Medium at 68.9 FPS. High dips to 53.2 FPS, making it unsuitable for the 60 FPS standard. Low runs at 87.4 FPS, but Medium provides a substantial visual improvement while still clearing the threshold by nearly 9 FPS. Ultra is far off at 38.1 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, so there is no recommended setting. The closest option is Low at 45.5 FPS, which is playable in a technical sense but fails the defined playability criterion. Medium, High, and Ultra produce 36.6, 26.8, and 20.1 FPS respectively, all rendering 4K impractical for smooth gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that resolution scaling shifts the performance burden between components. At 1080p, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor: moving from Low to Ultra drops FPS from 140.7 to 59.1, a 58% reduction. The i5-14400F's strong single-thread performance (3055 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high 1080p Low result.

At 1440p, the GPU load intensifies. The gap between Low (87.4 FPS) and Medium (68.9 FPS) is 18.5 FPS, while the jump to High (53.2 FPS) costs another 15.7 FPS. This pattern shows diminishing returns as the Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becomes saturated. The CPU's role remains secondary—its 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for Hitman 2's stealth gameplay logic.

The 4K results reveal a pure GPU bottleneck. From Low (45.5 FPS) to Ultra (20.1 FPS), performance nearly halves, with each preset tier costing roughly 6-10 FPS. The Arc B580's 192-bit memory bus and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K's pixel throughput demands, regardless of CPU capabilities. The i5-14400F's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 65 W TDP indicate it is not the constraint here—the GPU's 190 W TDP and 2560 shading units are overwhelmed by the 8.3 million pixels at 3840x2160.

Comparing resolutions, the 1080p High result (77.9 FPS) vs 1440p High (53.2 FPS) shows a 31.7% drop, while 1440p Medium to 4K Medium (36.6 FPS) drops 46.9%. This scaling confirms the GPU is the dominant factor at higher resolutions, with the CPU's contribution diminishing as pixel count rises.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals show near-identical average scores within a 0.5% band. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, +0.1% delta) would behave almost indistinguishably in Hitman 2, as would the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, +0.2%). The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, -0.2%) is marginally faster, while the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, +0.5%) is slightly slower. All four processors would produce the same FPS ranges in this game, given that Hitman 2's frame rates are GPU-limited at most settings.

For the GPU, the Arc B580's nearest rivals are a mixed bag. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2%) is statistically tied in average score, though its older architecture may lack the Arc's feature set. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, +0.6%) is slightly slower on average, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, -0.7%) edges out the Arc by a small margin. The NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, -1%) is the fastest of the group, but by less than 1%. In practice, any of these GPUs would yield FPS numbers within a few frames of the measured results at each resolution and preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2798 out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom quarter of the database. This rank reflects the game's age (released November 2018) and the GPU's mid-range positioning—the Arc B580's 68th GPU percentile is offset by the demanding 4K results. The rank is driven primarily by the 4K failures; at 1080p and 1440p, the combo performs respectably against the broader field.

The CPU's 83rd percentile among all CPUs (avg score 32279) is a strong asset, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. The rank suggests that this pairing is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Hitman 2, but it is not competitive with higher-end combos that can sustain 4K playability. The gap between the 68th GPU percentile and the 83rd CPU percentile indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield larger gains than upgrading the CPU for this specific title.

The Verdict

This PC can run Hitman 2, but with clear resolution limits. At 1920x1080, the verdict confirms playable settings include High, Low, and Medium, with High at 77.9 FPS being the best choice. At 2560x1440, Low and Medium are playable, with Medium at 68.9 FPS as the optimal preset. At 3840x2160, there are no playable settings—every preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

For a 60 FPS target, stick to 1080p High or 1440p Medium. The 1080p Ultra result of 59.1 FPS is tantalizingly close to playability, but it misses the mark by less than 1 FPS, making it a borderline case. The 1440p High result at 53.2 FPS is playable in the casual sense but fails the strict 60 FPS criterion. The Arc B580's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for this game's textures, but the GPU's compute throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Overall, this combo is a solid 1080p performer and a capable 1440p option with adjusted settings, but 4K remains out of reach.