Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a workable, but not effortless, Hitman 2 experience. The measured frame rates show a system that can handle the game smoothly at lower resolutions and settings, but which is clearly pushed to its limits at 4K Ultra. This combination sits well within the mid-range tier of hardware, with the CPU ranking in the 73rd percentile and the GPU in the 58th percentile among all tested components. The data indicates that the primary challenge is balancing visual fidelity with frame rate, especially as the resolution climbs.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results make a clear case for prioritizing the High preset at 1080p as the best overall experience for this hardware. At 1920x1080, the High setting delivers an average of 76.6 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. This offers a significant visual upgrade over the Medium preset while only costing about 24 FPS on average. While the Low preset reaches 135 FPS, that level of performance is unnecessary for a stealth game like Hitman 2, where precision is more important than raw speed, and the visual compromise is substantial.

For those who absolutely need the highest visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1080p is playable at 54.8 FPS. This is a marginal average, and players will likely notice occasional dips below 60 FPS, making it a choice for screenshots rather than serious play. The Medium preset at 1080p, with its 100.5 FPS average, is a strong alternative if you want a high refresh rate experience, but the jump to High is generally worth the performance cost for the improved detail levels. At 1440p, the High preset becomes the optimal choice, yielding 47.9 FPS. This is a playable, if not perfect, frame rate for a slower-paced game, and it is the highest quality setting that remains fluid at this resolution. The Medium preset at 1440p (64.7 FPS) is also a solid choice for those who prefer a higher frame rate buffer.

The data suggests avoiding the Ultra preset at 1440p, as the 38 FPS average will feel sluggish and hinder the precise movement required in the game's stealth scenarios. At 4K, the situation becomes more restrictive. The Low preset at 3840x2160 is the only truly playable option, with a 47.1 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K dips to 33.6 FPS, and High (24.6 FPS) and Ultra (18.2 FPS) are effectively unplayable. For a 4K experience, expect to use Low settings to maintain a semblance of smoothness.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores show a processor that is well-suited for gaming workloads. In 3DMark, it scores 688 in the single-thread test, which is a strong indicator of good per-core performance that games rely on. Its multi-threaded scores, such as 4748 in the 16-thread test and 10297 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, show it has ample headroom for background tasks and modern game engines that can utilize multiple cores.

For Hitman 2, the data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. The frame rate scales significantly with resolution and graphical settings, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, at 1080p, the average FPS drops from 135 on Low to 54.8 on Ultra, a change driven almost entirely by the GPU's workload. The i5-10400F, with its strong single-thread score of 1453 in Geekbench, is capable of feeding the RTX 2060 enough data to keep it busy. Its performance is closely matched by rivals like the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% difference) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (-1.1% difference), placing it in a comfortable performance tier.

The CPU's 12 threads are a benefit for Hitman 2, which can use them for AI, physics, and scene streaming. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has less work, the 135 FPS average suggests the processor is keeping up. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache is also beneficial for game data. The data indicates that the i5-10400F provides a stable foundation, ensuring that frame rates are more likely to be limited by the graphics card than the processor in most practical scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the defining component in this pair. Based on the Turing architecture, it features 1920 shading units, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. Its memory configuration of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock of 1680 MHz and its FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS are respectable for its class, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its performance is within 1.8% of rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500.

The measured FPS data shows a clear picture of the RTX 2060's capabilities in Hitman 2. The GPU's performance is the primary factor in the frame rate differences between settings. The transition from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 60% decrease in average FPS (from 135 to 54.8), which is a direct result of the increased graphical load on the GPU. The 6 GB of VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but the data suggests it may be a limiting factor at 4K, where the High preset struggles to maintain 24.6 FPS and the Ultra preset drops to 18.2 FPS.

The RTX 2060's architecture, with its dedicated ray tracing cores, does not benefit Hitman 2 directly, as the game does not use that feature. The GPU's raw rasterization performance is what matters here, and the data shows it is a capable mid-range card for this title. The 160W TDP and 450W suggested PSU indicate the power requirements are moderate. The card is clearly the bottleneck at 4K, as even the Low preset (47.1 FPS) struggles to hit 60 FPS, and the higher presets become unplayable. At 1080p and 1440p, however, it provides the necessary performance for a good experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Hitman 2 at 60 FPS on High settings?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 76.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 47.9 FPS, so a 60 FPS target is not met at that resolution with this preset.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware to get a smooth experience?

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the best resolution. It shows a broad range of playable settings, with High achieving 76.6 FPS and even Ultra being marginally playable at 54.8 FPS, offering the most flexibility.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor. Frame rates scale dramatically with graphical settings and resolution, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. For example, at 1080p, the FPS drops from 135 on Low to 54.8 on Ultra, a change driven by the GPU.

Q: How does the RTX 2060's performance in Hitman 2 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060's overall average benchmark score is 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, showing it is a competitive performer in its class.

Q: Is the 6 GB of VRAM on the RTX 2060 enough for Hitman 2 at 4K?

A: The data suggests it is insufficient for high-quality 4K play. The High preset at 3840x2160 only averages 24.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 18.2 FPS, indicating the card is overwhelmed at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting to use at 1440p for a balance of quality and speed?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440, with an average of 47.9 FPS, is the highest quality setting that remains fluid. The Medium preset offers a higher 64.7 FPS average if a smoother frame rate is preferred.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a steep performance drop as resolution increases, which is a textbook example of GPU-bound scaling. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 76.6 FPS at 1080p to 47.9 FPS at 1440p, a 37.5% decrease, and then to 24.6 FPS at 4K, a further 48.6% decrease from 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings, with the frame rate nearly halving with each step up in resolution.

The Low preset shows the same trend, dropping from 135 FPS at 1080p to 85.3 FPS at 1440p and then to 47.1 FPS at 4K. This scaling behavior confirms that the RTX 2060's rendering throughput is the deciding factor. The CPU, with its strong single-thread performance, is not the bottleneck here, as the frame rates would be more consistent across resolutions if it were. The data shows that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to max out at 135 FPS on Low, but the GPU's workload increases so much at 4K that even the lowest settings cannot achieve 60 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 2060 is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a stretch that requires significant compromises in visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 135 FPS, providing an exceptionally smooth experience. The Medium preset averages 100.5 FPS, still offering a high refresh rate. The High preset is the sweet spot, with an average of 76.6 FPS, which is ideal for a game like this. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with the average dropping to 54.8 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset averages 85.3 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset delivers a solid 64.7 FPS. The High preset averages 47.9 FPS, which is playable but with a noticeable reduction in smoothness. The Ultra preset falls to 38 FPS, which is not recommended for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060 is clearly overburdened. The Low preset is the only viable option, with an average of 47.1 FPS. The Medium preset averages 33.6 FPS, and the High preset drops to 24.6 FPS. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable, with an average of just 18.2 FPS. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is not a practical option for this combination, requiring the lowest settings to even approach a playable frame rate.