Hitman 2

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows a clear tiered performance structure across the four available presets. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers the highest headroom with an average of 179.6 FPS, while Medium drops to 138.4 FPS, High to 102.5 FPS, and Ultra to 74.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial at 41.2 FPS, but the step from Medium to High is smaller at 35.9 FPS, indicating diminishing returns as settings climb.

For players targeting the smoothest possible experience on a high-refresh-rate display, the Medium preset at 1080p offers the best compromise: it maintains an average above 138 FPS while providing noticeably improved visual fidelity over Low. The High preset remains viable at 102.5 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices nearly 36 FPS compared to Medium for what is typically a modest visual upgrade in this title. The Ultra preset at 74.1 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, and the data shows it delivers less than half the frame rate of Low.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. Low produces 113.7 FPS, Medium 86.5 FPS, High 64.7 FPS, and Ultra 52.1 FPS. The Medium preset remains the sweet spot, keeping the average above 86 FPS and staying well clear of the 60 FPS threshold. High at 64.7 FPS is just above playable but sits close to the line, while Ultra falls short of consistent smoothness. For 4K, the situation is more constrained: Low averages 61.4 FPS, Medium 47.8 FPS, High 37.6 FPS, and Ultra 27.4 FPS. Only Low delivers a playable average at this resolution, and even that is marginal. The recommendation is to prioritize Medium at 1080p or 1440p for the best balance, and to accept Low settings at 4K if resolution is non-negotiable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 894th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 50th percentile of the database’s measured configurations. This mid-pack positioning reflects a pairing where the CPU’s modest four-core, eight-thread design (Alder Lake architecture) meets a GPU that is far more capable in isolation. The RTX 5060, with a 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 30109, is the dominant half of this duo. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at a 0% delta and the AMD Radeon RX 570 at -0.2%, showing the GPU sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The i3-12100F, by contrast, ranks in the 72nd percentile among CPUs with an average benchmark score of 13516, and its nearest rivals tell a telling story. It sits 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U, 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10105, and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K. These deltas are small, indicating the i3-12100F is competitive with far more expensive processors in synthetic workloads, but the 3dmark data shows its multithreaded ceiling: 4051 in the 16-thread test versus 4026 in the 8-thread test, suggesting limited scaling beyond its physical threads.

In Hitman 2 specifically, the combo’s rank at 894 of 1795 suggests that the game’s engine does not fully exploit the RTX 5060’s capabilities, likely due to the CPU’s single-thread and four-core constraints. The 1080p Low result of 179.6 FPS shows the GPU can stretch its legs when the CPU load is manageable, but at 4K Ultra the 27.4 FPS average indicates the pairing struggles under combined pressure. The data implies this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it lands in the upper half of all tested systems, rather than 4K, where it falls toward the lower quartile.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: The data shows 1080p as the optimal resolution, with all four presets averaging above 74 FPS. At 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 52.1 FPS, while 4K only achieves playable performance on Low settings at 61.4 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, placing it 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K. It also outperforms the Intel Core i3-10105 by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-1250U by 0.4%.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: At 4K, the RTX 5060 produces 37.6 FPS on High and 27.4 FPS on Ultra, while the CPU’s 3dmark 16-thread score of 4051 suggests it is also strained. The data indicates both components contribute to the bottleneck, as frame rates scale poorly across all settings.

Q: What settings should be avoided with this combo?

A: The 4K Ultra preset is the worst measured result, averaging 27.4 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra at 52.1 FPS is also below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth play. The 1080p Ultra preset at 74.1 FPS is the lowest acceptable option.

Q: How does the GPU’s rank compare to its performance in this game?

A: The RTX 5060 ranks in the 73rd percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 30109, but in Hitman 2 the combo ranks 894th of 1795, indicating the game does not fully realize the GPU’s potential due to CPU limitations.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset averages 179.6 FPS, while Ultra averages 74.1 FPS. This represents a difference of 105.5 FPS, or a 58.7% reduction when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages across all four presets are as follows: Low delivers 179.6 FPS, Medium 138.4 FPS, High 102.5 FPS, and Ultra 74.1 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium costs 41.2 FPS, from Medium to High costs 35.9 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 28.4 FPS. This linear degradation pattern suggests the GPU is the primary scaling factor, as each settings tier imposes a similar absolute penalty.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 113.7 FPS on Low, 86.5 FPS on Medium, 64.7 FPS on High, and 52.1 FPS on Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 27.2 FPS, between Medium and High is 21.8 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 12.6 FPS. The shrinking gaps at higher settings indicate that the CPU begins to exert more influence, particularly at Ultra where the frame rate falls below 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are heavily constrained: Low averages 61.4 FPS, Medium 47.8 FPS, High 37.6 FPS, and Ultra 27.4 FPS. The differences are 13.6 FPS between Low and Medium, 10.2 FPS between Medium and High, and 10.2 FPS between High and Ultra. The near-uniform drops at 4K suggest a consistent bottleneck, likely the CPU’s inability to feed the GPU at such high pixel counts, as the RTX 5060’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 19.18 TFLOPS should theoretically handle more.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings, the 1080p to 1440p transition reduces frame rates by 36.7% on Low (179.6 to 113.7), 37.5% on Medium (138.4 to 86.5), 36.9% on High (102.5 to 64.7), and 29.7% on Ultra (74.1 to 52.1). The 1440p to 4K transition is more severe: 46.0% on Low (113.7 to 61.4), 44.7% on Medium (86.5 to 47.8), 41.9% on High (64.7 to 37.6), and 47.4% on Ultra (52.1 to 27.4).

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K reveal a consistent scaling pattern that identifies the limiting component. At Low settings, the average falls from 179.6 FPS at 1080p to 113.7 FPS at 1440p and 61.4 FPS at 4K, representing a 65.8% reduction across the full resolution range. At Ultra, the drop is from 74.1 FPS to 52.1 FPS to 27.4 FPS, a 63.0% reduction. These percentages are remarkably similar across all settings, which is unusual for a GPU-bound scenario where higher resolutions typically amplify the GPU load disproportionately.

The uniformity of these drops suggests that the Intel Core i3-12100F is the primary constraint. The CPU’s 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and 2-thread score of 1659 indicate limited per-core performance, and Hitman 2’s engine appears to rely on a few threads that cannot scale with the GPU’s demands. At 1080p Low, the CPU can keep up with the RTX 5060’s output of 179.6 FPS, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s per-frame workload rises while the CPU’s frame preparation time remains constant, creating a growing gap.

Evidence for this CPU limitation is the near-identical percentage drops at Low and Ultra settings. If the GPU were the bottleneck, the Ultra preset at 4K (27.4 FPS) would show a much steeper decline relative to 1080p Ultra (74.1 FPS), because the GPU is already saturated at lower resolutions. Instead, the data shows a 63% reduction, only slightly less than the 65.8% at Low, implying the CPU is capping performance across the board. The 4K Low result of 61.4 FPS is particularly telling, as this is a frame rate the GPU should exceed easily given its 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, yet it falls just above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating the CPU is holding it back.

The practical implication is that this combo is balanced for 1080p and playable at 1440p, but 4K is only viable on Low settings. The RTX 5060’s 8 GB GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p in this game, but the i3-12100F’s four cores cannot feed it adequately at 4K, resulting in the sub-40 FPS averages on High and Ultra. Upgrading the CPU would yield immediate gains at higher resolutions, while the GPU has headroom to spare based on its 73rd percentile ranking.