Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 shows a clear pattern of resolution-dependent scaling. At 1080p with High settings, the combination produces 183.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 117.8 FPS, and at 4K it falls further to 64.3 FPS. This represents a 35.7% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and another 45.3% reduction from 1440p to 4K at High settings.

The scaling behavior is more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the combo achieves 227 FPS at 1080p, 193.5 FPS at 1440p, and 111.7 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is less than half of the 1080p figure, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as resolution increases. The RTX 5080's performance headroom at 1080p is substantial, but the 4K workload pushes the graphics card significantly harder.

Ultra settings show the steepest resolution penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 132.5 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, this drops to 84.7 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 47.7 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Ultra costs 37 FPS, which is a 43.7% reduction. This suggests that the combination of high resolution and Ultra preset creates a workload that heavily taxes the GPU.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting component in many scenarios. The i5-10400F has 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. At 1080p Low, the system produces 227 FPS, which is close to what the CPU can physically feed to the GPU. The fact that increasing resolution from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings only drops FPS from 227 to 193.5 (a 14.8% reduction) while the pixel count increases by 77.8% indicates that CPU limitations are masking some of the GPU's capability at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2617 MHz. Its 10752 shading units and 112 ROPs contribute to a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s.

The GPU's memory configuration plays a significant role in Hitman 2's performance at higher resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra settings, where the measured FPS is 47.7. The GDDR7 memory operates at 1875 MHz with 30 Gbps effective speed, which provides ample bandwidth for the game's textures and geometry at 4K resolution.

The RTX 5080's compute capabilities are substantial. It delivers 56.28 TFLOPS for FP32 operations and the same figure for FP16 (1:1 ratio). The 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores handle ray tracing and AI workloads, though Hitman 2's traditional rasterization approach means these features are less critical for this specific title. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 36565 places it in the 89th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59188.

The GPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Arc A570M at 58239 (1.6% delta), the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 (-1.9% delta), the Intel Arc A580 at 57756 (2.5% delta), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X at 57661 (2.6% delta). These comparisons show that the RTX 5080 sits in a cluster of mid-to-high-range GPUs, though its 4K performance in Hitman 2 suggests it handles the game's demands well.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 145th out of 1795 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places it in the top 8.1% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing for this pairing. The rank reflects the balanced performance of the CPU and GPU working together across the tested resolutions and settings.

The CPU component of this combo has a percentile rank of 73 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.4% delta), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, -0.8% delta), Intel Core i5-8500 (14332, -1.1% delta), and AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (14336, -1.2% delta). The i5-10400F sits within 1.2% of these rivals, indicating that its processing power is competitive with a range of server and desktop chips.

The GPU's percentile rank of 89 places it higher than the CPU's rank, suggesting that the RTX 5080 is the stronger component in this pairing. The GPU's average benchmark score of 59188 significantly exceeds the CPU's 14168, which is expected given the different workloads each component handles. In Hitman 2, the combo rank of 145 out of 1795 indicates that this pairing performs well above the median, with only 8.1% of tested combos achieving better results.

The combination's performance is particularly notable given that the i5-10400F is a 10th generation Core processor with a 14 nm process node, while the RTX 5080 is a 5 nm Blackwell architecture GPU. The generational difference in process technology means the GPU has a significant advantage in raw compute capability, but the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep the system performing well in Hitman 2, which is not heavily CPU-bound at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset delivers the best experience for this combination. At 1080p, all four presets produce playable frame rates. Low settings achieve 227 FPS, Medium reaches 203.4 FPS, High delivers 183.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 132.5 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 50.7 FPS, which is a 27.7% reduction for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in Hitman 2.

At 1440p, the High preset at 117.8 FPS provides a smooth experience for most displays. Medium at 152.6 FPS offers additional headroom, while Ultra at 84.7 FPS remains playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing becomes more noticeable. Low at 193.5 FPS is excessive for most 1440p displays, which typically refresh at 144 Hz or 165 Hz.

At 4K, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. High settings at 64.3 FPS is the best balance between visual quality and performance. Medium at 85 FPS provides a smoother experience but with reduced visual fidelity. Ultra at 47.7 FPS is technically playable but falls below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider optimal. Low at 111.7 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for the resolution.

The data indicates that High settings at 1440p (117.8 FPS) or 4K (64.3 FPS) provide the best overall experience. For players with 144 Hz displays at 1080p, the High preset at 183.2 FPS exceeds the refresh rate, making Medium at 203.4 FPS unnecessary. For 4K displays, High settings at 64.3 FPS is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS while maintaining good visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured average FPS values are: Low 227, Medium 203.4, High 183.2, and Ultra 132.5. The difference between Low and Ultra is 94.5 FPS, representing a 41.6% reduction in performance from the lowest to highest quality preset. The step from Medium to High costs 20.2 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 50.7 FPS, making the Ultra preset the least efficient in terms of performance per visual quality gain.

At 2560x1440 resolution, the measured average FPS values are: Low 193.5, Medium 152.6, High 117.8, and Ultra 84.7. The gap between Low and Ultra is 108.8 FPS, a 56.2% reduction. Medium at 152.6 FPS is the first preset to drop below 160 FPS, and High at 117.8 FPS is the first to fall below 120 FPS. Ultra at 84.7 FPS remains above 60 FPS but is approaching the threshold where some players might notice frame pacing issues.

At 3840x2160 resolution, the measured average FPS values are: Low 111.7, Medium 85, High 64.3, and Ultra 47.7. The spread from Low to Ultra is 64 FPS, a 57.3% reduction. Medium at 85 FPS is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. High at 64.3 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 47.7 FPS falls below it. The data shows that 4K resolution with Ultra settings pushes this combination to its limits.

The resolution scaling at each settings preset is consistent: Low settings show the smallest percentage drop from 1080p to 4K (50.8% reduction), while Ultra settings show the largest (64% reduction). This pattern confirms that the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck as both resolution and quality settings increase.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p with High settings provides 117.8 FPS, which is a good balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, High settings reach 183.2 FPS, which exceeds most display refresh rates. At 4K, High settings achieve 64.3 FPS, staying just above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 47.7, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. While technically playable, the frame rate is noticeably lower than at High settings (64.3 FPS) or Medium settings (85 FPS). The data suggests that High or Medium presets are better choices for 4K play.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59188, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M (58239) and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A580 (57756). It trails the Intel Arc Pro A60 by 1.9% (60326) and leads the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X by 2.6% (57661).

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck for the RTX 5080?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 227 FPS, which suggests the CPU is limiting performance in GPU-light scenarios. However, at 1440p and 4K, the FPS scales more predictably with resolution, indicating the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What settings preset provides the most consistent frame rate across resolutions?

A: The High preset shows the most consistent scaling, with 183.2 FPS at 1080p, 117.8 FPS at 1440p, and 64.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64.9% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is more linear than the Ultra preset's 64% reduction from a lower starting point.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combination ranks 145th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 8.1% of all tested pairings. The GPU's percentile rank of 89 is higher than the CPU's rank of 73, indicating the graphics card is the stronger component in this setup.