Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D pairing in Hitman 2 produces a combination that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still demonstrates the CPU's capability to feed the flagship GPU at 1080p. The data shows a clear hierarchy where the RTX 5090 D's immense rendering power is the primary driver of frame rates, but the 8400F's six-core, 12-thread Zen 4 architecture ensures that it never becomes a bottleneck until the resolution drops significantly.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. In Hitman 2, a stealth game that involves complex AI routines and dynamic crowd simulations, the CPU's job is to manage game logic and draw calls. The benchmark results indicate that this processor is more than sufficient for the task, as the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are exceptionally high, suggesting the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output.

At 1080p, the CPU's role is most apparent. With Low settings, the average FPS reaches 326, which is a staggering figure that indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor. Even at Ultra settings, the average FPS remains a very playable 153. This performance is consistent with the CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and a single-core score of 2943. These scores place the 8400F in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which has an average score of 24964, a mere 0.2% difference.

The data suggests that Hitman 2 does not heavily stress the CPU's multi-threading capabilities, as the game's engine appears to favor single-core performance. The 8400F's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 951, ensures that the game's main simulation thread runs efficiently. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache also helps in reducing latency for frequently accessed game data. While the CPU has a TDP of 65 watts, this is a power efficiency detail that does not directly translate to in-game performance, but it does indicate the processor can maintain its boost clocks without thermal throttling in a capable air cooler. The 4 nm process node from TSMC, with 25,000 million transistors on a 178 mm² die, contributes to this efficiency.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the 8400F is effectively on par with the Intel Core i7-13620H, which has a deltaPct of 0.4%, and the Intel Core i7-11850H, with a deltaPct of 0.3%. The AMD EPYC 9474F is 0.4% slower in average benchmark score, but this is a server-class chip and not relevant to gaming. For Hitman 2, the 8400F's performance is more than adequate, and the benchmark results show that it is not the bottleneck in this pairing, as the FPS scales dramatically with resolution changes, which is a hallmark of GPU limitation.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows a consistent and significant drop in frame rates across all settings, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited scenario. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 207 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p and then to 71 at 4K. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. These percentage changes are far larger than what would be expected if the CPU were the limiting factor, as CPU-bound scenarios typically show minimal FPS variation across resolutions.

The Low settings preset demonstrates this even more dramatically. At 1080p, the average FPS is 326, but this falls to 234 at 1440p and then to 124 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is a 62% reduction, which is a massive decrease that can only be attributed to the GPU's rendering workload. The RTX 5090 D is being pushed to its limits at 4K, and the data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at this resolution. Even at Medium settings, the pattern holds, with FPS dropping from 274 at 1080p to 175 at 1440p and 93 at 4K.

The Ultra settings preset shows the lowest frame rates, with 153 FPS at 1080p, 98 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only one that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combination is not ideal for maximum fidelity at 4K. The data strongly suggests that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU, as the CPU's performance headroom is clearly demonstrated by the high frame rates at lower resolutions. The fact that the FPS scales almost linearly with the number of pixels being rendered confirms that the RTX 5090 D is the primary constraint, while the Ryzen 5 8400F remains capable of feeding it data at all tested resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship graphics card with a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and it features 21,760 shading units. In Hitman 2, these specifications translate to exceptional rasterization performance, as the game is not particularly demanding on ray tracing or Tensor cores. The GPU's raw compute power, rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32, is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM is far more than Hitman 2 requires, even at 4K Ultra settings. This means the game's textures and geometry are easily accommodated, and there is no risk of VRAM capacity being a limiting factor. The GPU's high memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck, contributing to the smooth performance at all resolutions.

The benchmark data for the RTX 5090 D shows a Passmark G3D score of 44065, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which has a deltaPct of 1.1%, meaning the 5090 D is slightly slower in that specific benchmark. However, this is a synthetic benchmark and does not reflect the card's dominance in real-world gaming scenarios like Hitman 2. The GPU's performance in this game is clearly demonstrated by the measured FPS, where it achieves 326 FPS at 1080p Low, a figure that is likely limited by the CPU's frame generation capabilities rather than the GPU's rendering power.

The GPU's high clock speeds and massive core count are the reasons it can deliver such high frame rates. The data indicates that at 1080p, the GPU is often idle waiting for the CPU, as the FPS differences between Low and Ultra settings are relatively small compared to the resolution scaling. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and the FPS drops to a more reasonable range, showing that the card's rendering capabilities are the primary factor in determining performance at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 37th out of 3711 combos for Hitman 2. This is an excellent ranking, placing it in the top 1% of all tested systems. This high rank demonstrates the overall performance of the combination, which is capable of delivering high frame rates at all resolutions. The fact that it ranks so highly despite the CPU being a mid-range part highlights the GPU's dominance in this game.

The rank of 37 out of 3711 means that there are only 36 other combinations that perform better in Hitman 2. These are likely to be systems with even more powerful CPUs, such as the top-tier Ryzen 9 or Core i9 processors, paired with the same or similar GPUs. However, the data shows that the 8400F is not a significant bottleneck, as the FPS at 1080p is already very high, and the ranking is more influenced by the GPU's performance.

This ranking also suggests that the 8400F is a very capable gaming CPU for this title, as it does not hold back the RTX 5090 D to a significant degree. The combo's performance is consistent with the CPU's 77th percentile ranking and the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking, indicating that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing. The overall combo rank of 37 is a strong indicator that this system is well-balanced for Hitman 2, offering a high level of performance that would satisfy most gamers looking for high refresh rate experiences or 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it delivers an average FPS of 153, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many high-end monitors offer. This provides a visually rich experience without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset also delivers a very high 274 FPS, but the Ultra preset's visual improvements are worth the FPS trade-off for most players. For 1440p, the High preset is the sweet spot, providing an average of 132 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate gaming. The Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers a respectable 98 FPS, but the High preset offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The High preset delivers an average of 71 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive gaming. The Medium preset offers 93 FPS, which is a better experience for 4K, but the visual quality is slightly reduced. The Ultra preset at 4K only achieves 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering on some displays. Therefore, for 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it provides the best balance between visual quality and smoothness, with an average of 93 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for only marginal FPS gains. For example, at 1080p, Low gives 326 FPS, but this is unnecessary for most monitors, and the visual downgrade is significant. The data clearly shows that the High or Medium presets are the best options for most users, depending on their resolution and refresh rate preferences.

FAQ

*Q: What is the maximum average FPS this combo can achieve in Hitman 2?*

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 326 at 1080p with Low settings. This indicates the CPU's frame generation limit, as the GPU is not fully utilized at this resolution.

*Q: Is this combo capable of smooth 4K gaming in Hitman 2?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium settings, the average FPS is 93, which is smooth. At 4K High, it drops to 71 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 52 FPS, which may not be smooth on all displays.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005. It is 0.2% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, 0.3% faster than the Intel Core i7-11850H, and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i7-13620H. It is 0.4% slower than the AMD EPYC 9474F.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, based on its average benchmark score of 77712.

Q: At what resolution does the CPU become the limiting factor?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor at any tested resolution. The FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the limit, but the FPS is so high that it is still not a practical constraint.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in the database for this game?

A: This combination ranks 37th out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the top 1% of all systems in the database.