Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a 2018 stealth title, is anything but demanding by modern standards, yet the measured data for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 reveals a fascinating and severe bottleneck. This combination ranks 1136th out of 3711 tested combos, placing it in the 69th percentile of all configurations. The data shows that this pairing is wildly unbalanced, with the RX 9070's immense graphics horsepower being consistently held back by the i3-12100F's four-core architecture, particularly at lower resolutions. The results indicate that this is a configuration where the CPU is the primary limiting factor in most scenarios, and the GPU's full potential is rarely, if ever, realized.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling evidence of this CPU bottleneck emerges when analyzing how average frame rates scale across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 223 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the frame rate drops to 143 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 76 FPS, which is another 47% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline as resolution increases suggests that the system is heavily CPU-limited at 1080p; the GPU has so much spare capacity that it can render frames as fast as the CPU can feed it instructions. The 80 FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p Low is a clear indicator that the CPU is the ceiling, not the graphics card.

However, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically when settings are increased. At High settings, the drop from 1080p (126 FPS) to 1440p (81 FPS) is a 36% reduction, but the drop from 1440p to 4K (43 FPS) is 47%. This indicates that as the graphical load increases, the GPU begins to take on more of the work, though the CPU is still a significant constraint. The data suggests that the transition from 1080p to 1440p is still heavily influenced by the CPU's limitations, while the jump to 4K finally starts to engage the GPU more substantially. The frame rate at 4K High (43 FPS) is nearly half that of 1440p High (81 FPS), showing that the resolution increase is now demanding more from the GPU, but the overall performance is still poor.

At Ultra settings, the pattern becomes even more pronounced. The frame rates are 93 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is more linear across the board. The fact that the 1080p Ultra score is only 126% of the 4K result, while at Low settings the 1080p score is 293% of the 4K result, suggests that at higher settings, the game's visual complexity finally starts to saturate the GPU's capabilities. Yet, the absolute numbers are still low for a card of this class. The data implies that even at 4K Ultra, where the game is most demanding, the i3-12100F is still preventing the RX 9070 from delivering a smooth experience, as the 32 FPS average is far below what the GPU's compute potential suggests it should achieve.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a powerful piece of hardware on paper, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz. These specifications should be more than sufficient to demolish a game like Hitman 2, even at 4K. The GPU's benchmarks support this, with a Passmark G3D score of 25381, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. It outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER by 1.2% and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S by 0.8%, while being just 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z.

However, the measured FPS data in Hitman 2 does not reflect this raw power. At 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 32 FPS, a result that is more in line with a mid-range GPU from several generations ago. This disconnect between the GPU's theoretical capability and the actual in-game performance is the definitive sign of a CPU bottleneck. The RX 9070 is not being allowed to stretch its legs. The VRAM is a non-issue, as 16 GB is more than adequate for any title from 2018, even at 4K. The GPU's clocks are not the limiting factor either; the data suggests that the GPU is frequently idle, waiting for the processor to send it the next frame's draw calls. The result is that this high-end GPU is effectively wasted in this configuration, producing frame rates that are a fraction of what they should be.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i3-12100F and the Radeon RX 9070 achieves a rank of 1136 out of 3711 tested combos. This places it in the top 30% of all configurations, which sounds respectable until you consider the hardware involved. The GPU alone is in the 69th percentile of all graphics cards, and the CPU is in the 68th percentile of all processors. A system pairing two components that are individually above average should arguably rank higher than the 69th percentile overall. This discrepancy is the core issue: the rank is dragged down by the massive mismatch in performance classes.

The data indicates that this specific pairing is inefficient. While it is not the worst combination, its rank relative to the individual components' standings reveals that the sum is less than its parts. The combo's ranking suggests that many other pairings with less powerful GPUs but more balanced CPUs achieve better overall performance in this game. The 1136th rank out of 3711 is a direct consequence of the CPU holding back the GPU, preventing the system from reaching the performance tier that the RX 9070's 69th percentile score would imply. This is a classic example of a bottlenecked system, where the weakest link dictates the overall performance ceiling, and the data clearly shows that the i3-12100F is that weak link.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Examining the exact measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the configuration delivers an average of 223 FPS on Low settings, 167 FPS on Medium, 126 FPS on High, and 93 FPS on Ultra. The Medium settings result also has a reported minimum of 142 FPS and a maximum of 192 FPS. At this resolution, the frame rates are high enough to be playable on a high-refresh-rate monitor, but the massive gaps between settings are suspicious.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 143 FPS on Low, 107 FPS on Medium, 81 FPS on High, and 60 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant at every setting level. For instance, the 93 FPS at 1080p Ultra falls to 60 FPS at 1440p Ultra, a 35% reduction. This is a steep price to pay for a resolution increaseinthe context of a game this old, and it reinforces the idea that the CPU is struggling to keep up with the increased pixel count, even if the GPU is not.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. The averages are 76 FPS on Low, 57 FPS on Medium, 43 FPS on High, and 32 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting reports a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 66 FPS. The 4K results are the most telling. The difference between 1440p High (81 FPS) and 4K High (43 FPS) is a 47% drop, which is a massive hit. Even at 4K Low, the 76 FPS average is barely acceptable for a smooth experience, and it is far below what the RX 9070 should be able to deliver. The data shows that at 4K, the system is finally becoming more GPU-bound, but the CPU is still a limiting factor, preventing the frame rate from reaching the 100+ FPS territory that the GPU's specs would suggest is possible.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores show it to be a competent entry-level CPU, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674. It sits in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494, making it comparable to the Intel Core i5-9500, which it edges out by 0.3%.

However, in the context of gaming with a high-end GPU, those multi-threaded scores are less relevant than the single-thread performance and the total core count. While the single-core score of 1674 is decent, the 4-core/8-thread configuration is a significant handicap in modern games, which are increasingly optimized to use more cores. The data from Hitman 2 shows that this CPU simply cannot feed the RX 9070 enough data to keep it busy. The frame rates at 1080p, regardless of settings, are likely capped by the CPU's processing speed. The massive frame rate drops seen when moving from 1080p to 1440p are a classic symptom of a CPU bottleneck, as the CPU has to manage a larger number of pixels, even if the GPU rendering is the same. The 3DMark scores for the CPU also illustrate this, with a single-thread score of 893 and a 4-thread score of 2859, showing that while its single-thread performance is its strongest asset, it lacks the multi-core muscle needed for sustained high FPS in game engines that utilize more threads. The result is that this CPU, while fine for a lower-tier GPU, is a severe liability when paired with the RX 9070.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a good match for the AMD Radeon RX 9070 in Hitman 2?

A: No, the measured data indicates a severe bottleneck. The combination ranks 1136th out of 3711 combos, and the CPU's 4-core/8-thread configuration prevents the GPU from delivering performance commensurate with its 69th percentile benchmark ranking.

Q: What is the best-case scenario for this combo at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 223 FPS. At Ultra settings, the average falls to 93 FPS, indicating that the CPU is still the limiting factor even at the lowest graphical load.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark score compare to its immediate rivals?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494. It is statistically tied with the Intel Core 3 N355 (13492, 0% delta) and is 0.3% faster than the Intel Core i5-9500 (13452). It is 1.1% faster than the Intel Core i7-1250U (13351) and 0.7% slower than the Intel Core 5 120UL (13594).

Q: What is the performance like at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The average frame rate at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 32 FPS. This is below the threshold for a smooth experience and highlights the CPU bottleneck, as the RX 9070 should be capable of much higher frame rates in this title.

Q: Does the GPU's high VRAM capacity affect these results?

A: No. The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is far more than enough for Hitman 2. The bottleneck is not memory capacity or bandwidth (644.6 GB/s) but the CPU's inability to process and send draw calls fast enough.

Q: How much of a frame rate drop is seen when moving from 1440p to 4K?

A: The drop is substantial. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 81 at 2560x1440 to 43 at 3840x2160, a 47% reduction. This shows that while the increased resolution does engage the GPU more, the overall performance is still dragged down by the CPU.