Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior as resolution climbs. At 1080p with Low settings, the combination produces 224.9 FPS average, which drops to 165.1 FPS at 1440p and 86.5 FPS at 4K. That represents a 61.5% performance reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating the rendering workload scales heavily with pixel count.

Moving to High settings, the frame rate progression is 143.3 FPS at 1080p, 91.5 FPS at 1440p, and 47.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is less than half of the 1080p result, confirming that the RX 7900 XT's fillrate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors at higher resolutions. The gap between 1440p and 4K on High settings is 43.7 FPS, while the gap between 1080p and 1440p is 51.8 FPS, showing a slightly steeper drop at the lower resolution step.

Ultra settings tell a similar story but with more dramatic losses. At 1080p, the combo manages 108.4 FPS, slipping to 67.3 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 35.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is 67.5% lower than the 1080p Ultra result. This suggests that even with a high-end GPU like the RX 7900 XT, Hitman 2's Ultra preset imposes a heavy computational load that overwhelms the graphics pipeline at 4K.

The data indicates the CPU is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the i5-10400F's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the 224.9 FPS result. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings shows a 59.8 FPS drop, which is proportionally larger than the drop from 1440p to 4K (78.6 FPS). This pattern suggests that while the GPU is the primary constraint, the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 688, Cinebench R23 single-core of 1453) keeps up adequately at lower resolutions where frame rates are highest.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. The card features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is particularly relevant for Hitman 2, which can consume significant VRAM at higher settings and resolutions. The 4K High result of 47.8 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 35.2 FPS suggest the game's texture and shadow workloads at those presets are taxing the GPU's compute resources.

Clock speeds on the RX 7900 XT are substantial: a base clock of 1387 MHz, a game clock of 2025 MHz, and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The RDNA 3.0 architecture with 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 ROPs provides the raw throughput needed for Hitman 2's engine. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are key metrics for understanding why the card excels at 1080p but struggles at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (deltaPct 0), NVIDIA CMP 70HX (deltaPct 0.3), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct 0.6). These close margins indicate the RX 7900 XT sits at a performance tier where small variations in workload can shift rankings, yet in Hitman 2 specifically, the card demonstrates strong scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution.

The 4K Ultra result of 35.2 FPS is particularly telling. It shows that even with 20 GB of VRAM and 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the RX 7900 XT cannot maintain playable frame rates at maximum settings in 4K for this title. The gap between 4K Medium (66.4 FPS) and 4K Ultra (35.2 FPS) is 31.2 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset includes effects that disproportionately impact performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance for optimizing the Hitman 2 experience with this hardware. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 190.8 FPS, which is only 34.1 FPS less than Low (224.9 FPS) but offers substantially better visual quality. The High preset at 143.3 FPS remains well above the 60 FPS threshold and represents a balanced choice for competitive play. Ultra at 1080p yields 108.4 FPS, which is perfectly playable and likely the best option for visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 122.1 FPS is the standout recommendation. It provides a 30.6 FPS advantage over High (91.5 FPS) while maintaining a comfortable margin above 100 FPS. The Low preset at 165.1 FPS is excessive for most users, and Ultra at 67.3 FPS, while playable, does not offer enough visual improvement over Medium to justify the 54.8 FPS penalty.

For 4K users, the data suggests Medium is the practical ceiling. The Medium preset achieves 66.4 FPS, which is smooth enough for most displays. High at 47.8 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 35.2 FPS falls below acceptable thresholds for action-oriented gameplay. The Low preset at 86.5 FPS is viable for esports-style play but sacrifices too much visual detail for a stealth game that relies on environmental awareness.

The optimal preset depends on resolution. At 1080p, High or Ultra are both reasonable, with 143.3 FPS and 108.4 FPS respectively. At 1440p, Medium at 122.1 FPS is the sweet spot. At 4K, Medium at 66.4 FPS is the only preset that balances visual quality and performance. The data shows diminishing returns from Medium to Ultra at every resolution, with the Ultra preset costing 82.4 FPS over Medium at 1080p, 54.8 FPS at 1440p, and 31.2 FPS at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving 122.1 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold while offering substantially better visual quality than Low settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which produce 66.4 FPS. High settings drop to 47.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35.2 FPS, both of which are below ideal playable thresholds for fast-paced gameplay.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium in terms of performance?

A: The Ultra preset costs significant frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 108.4 FPS versus 190.8 FPS on Medium, a difference of 82.4 FPS. At 1440p, the gap is 54.8 FPS (67.3 vs 122.1), and at 4K, it is 31.2 FPS (35.2 vs 66.4).

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 224.9 FPS, indicating the i5-10400F's 4.30 GHz boost clock and 12 threads are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RX 7900 XT at lower settings.

Q: How much VRAM does Hitman 2 need at 4K?

A: The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory, and the 4K Medium result of 66.4 FPS indicates this is sufficient. The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth is a more likely constraint than capacity, given the performance drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 108.4 FPS. This is playable on high refresh rate monitors, though it is 82.4 FPS lower than the Medium preset's 190.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT combination ranks 428th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 23.8% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the strong performance of the RX 7900 XT, which sits in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, paired with a CPU that ranks in the 73rd percentile among all processors.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (deltaPct 0.4), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (deltaPct -0.8), Intel Core i5-8500 (deltaPct -1.1), and AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (deltaPct -1.2). These margins are all within 1.2%, indicating the i5-10400F's processing power is closely matched by several other options. However, in Hitman 2, the GPU does most of the heavy lifting at higher resolutions, so the CPU's exact positioning matters less at 4K than at 1080p.

The GPU's nearest rivals are even tighter: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile matches the RX 7900 XT's average score (deltaPct 0), while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX is 0.3% ahead and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 0.6% ahead. This clustering means the RX 7900 XT's performance in Hitman 2 is comparable to several other high-end options, and the measured FPS data confirms it delivers strong results at 1080p and 1440p.

The combo's rank of 428 out of 1795 is respectable given that many higher-ranked configurations likely pair the RX 7900 XT with more powerful CPUs. The i5-10400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, while sufficient for Hitman 2, do not push the GPU to its absolute limits in CPU-bound scenarios. The 1080p Low result of 224.9 FPS suggests there is headroom, but the 4K results are purely GPU-limited. Overall, this pairing delivers solid performance for stealth gameplay, with the 4K Medium preset being the most demanding configuration that remains playable.