Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i5-11400F + AMD Radeon RX 580

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 produces a combination that ranks near the bottom of the tested pool for Hitman 2, sitting at rank 3388 out of 3711 combos. This places the pairing in the 9th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating that while the system is functional for the game, it delivers frame rates that are substantially below what many other combinations achieve. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p the system can produce playable results at lower settings, but as resolution increases, the frame rate collapses to levels that are unusable for a stealth game requiring precision and timing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 77 FPS, which drops to 49 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and further to 26 FPS at 4K (a 66% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, as the frame rate degrades almost linearly with the pixel count increase.

Moving to Medium settings, the same trend holds: 58 FPS at 1080p, 37 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K. The 4K result here is particularly telling — with a minimum of 17 FPS and maximum of 23 FPS, the system is operating at the edge of playability even before considering the demands of stealth gameplay where reaction time matters. At High settings, the 1080p average of 44 FPS drops to 28 FPS at 1440p and just 15 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 32 FPS at 1080p, 21 FPS at 1440p, and only 11 FPS at 4K.

The resolution scaling behavior suggests that the RX 580's 256-bit memory bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions. The GPU's pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p but insufficient for the pixel throughput required at 4K. The fact that dropping from Ultra to Low at 4K only improves performance from 11 to 26 FPS — a 2.4x gain — while the same settings change at 1080p yields a 2.4x improvement from 32 to 77 FPS, indicates that the GPU's compute resources are the bottleneck rather than any CPU limitation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 3388 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 9% of all configurations. This is a poor showing that reflects the GPU's age and mid-range positioning — the RX 580 sits at the 53rd percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, while the i5-11400F performs better relatively, at the 71st percentile among all CPUs. The disparity between CPU and GPU percentile rankings suggests that the processor is capable of feeding the graphics card more data than it can process, but the GPU's limits cap the overall system performance.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (average score 12940, just 0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12986, 0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon 740M (12870, 0.5% lower). These close scores indicate that the RX 580 is performing at a level consistent with its historical mid-range positioning, but in a 2018 game like Hitman 2, this translates to a combo rank that is far below average. The CPU's nearest rivals show the i5-11400F is competitive with the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, 0.3% higher) and Intel Core i5-12450H (17239, 0.4% lower), but this processing power does not compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units, with base and boost clocks of 1257 MHz and 1340 MHz respectively. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory operates at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the GPU in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12928.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940, 0.1% higher), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (12986, 0.4% higher), and AMD Radeon 740M (12870, 0.5% lower). The RX 580's performance in Hitman 2 reflects its compute capabilities: the FP32 throughput of 6.175 TFLOPS is competitive for its era, but the game's rendering demands at higher resolutions overwhelm the available pixel and texture throughput. The 32 ROPs limit fill-rate intensive operations, which explains why the frame rate drops so dramatically at 4K where pixel throughput becomes critical.

The GPU's memory configuration of 8 GB is sufficient for Hitman 2's textures at all tested settings, so VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor. Instead, the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s becomes the constraint at higher resolutions, as the game's draw calls and texture streaming require more data per frame than the bus can deliver. The DirectX 12 support (12_0) is present, but the GCN 4.0 architecture's implementation is not as efficient as newer designs, contributing to the lower frame rates observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 77 FPS, which is smooth and well above the threshold for comfortable play. Medium settings drop to 58 FPS on average, with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings reduce the average to 44 FPS, while Ultra settings bring it down to 32 FPS. These 1080p results show that the combo is capable of playable frame rates at Low and Medium settings, with High being borderline and Ultra requiring compromises.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. Low settings average 49 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less smooth than 1080p. Medium settings average 37 FPS with a range of 31 to 43 FPS, putting the system at the edge of acceptable performance for a stealth game where precise timing matters. High settings drop to 28 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 21 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across all settings. Low averages 26 FPS, Medium averages 20 FPS with a minimum of 17 and maximum of 23, High averages 15 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. None of these 4K results are playable, as even the best case of 26 FPS at Low settings is insufficient for a game requiring quick reactions and careful observation. The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium settings, dipping to 17 FPS, highlight the instability of the experience at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU operates on the Rocket Lake architecture using a 14 nm process, supporting DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 14340 and single-core result of 2024, placing it at the 71st percentile among all CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120 average score, 0.3% higher), Intel Core i5-12450H (17239, 0.4% lower), and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278, 0.6% lower). These close scores show that the i5-11400F is a solid mid-range processor that should not bottleneck a GPU of this class in most games. However, in Hitman 2, the measured frame rates at lower resolutions suggest that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output — the 77 FPS at 1080p Low is likely near the upper limit of what the RX 580 can produce, rather than being limited by the processor.

The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is well-suited for Hitman 2's engine, which can utilize multiple threads for AI, physics, and rendering tasks. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides strong single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024. This means that the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor in this combination; instead, the GPU's compute and memory throughput constraints govern the frame rates observed across all settings and resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system consistently achieves playable frame rates. At 1080p Low, the average is 77 FPS, and at Medium it is 58 FPS. At 1440p, even Low settings only reach 49 FPS, while 4K results are all below 26 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Hitman 2 at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average frame rate is 32 FPS, which is marginal but potentially playable. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 21 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 11 FPS, making those resolutions unsuitable for Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 12940 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12986 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon 740M scores 12870 (0.5% lower). These differences are minimal, indicating the RX 580 performs at a similar level to these GPUs.

Q: Is the i5-11400F a bottleneck for the RX 580 in this game?

A: The data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. The i5-11400F ranks at the 71st percentile among CPUs, while the RX 580 ranks at the 53rd percentile among GPUs. The frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of GPU-limited performance.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 4K?

A: At 4K, the best result is 26 FPS at Low settings. Medium settings average 20 FPS with a minimum of 17 FPS, High averages 15 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. None of these results are suitable for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The combination ranks 3388 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 9% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range performance relative to the broader test pool.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo in Hitman 2 is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This configuration delivers an average of 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 FPS and maximum of 67 FPS, providing a stable and responsive experience suitable for stealth gameplay. The minimum frame rate above 48 FPS ensures that the game remains smooth even during complex scenes with multiple AI characters.

For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p High settings at 44 FPS average is a viable alternative, though the lower minimum frame rates may cause occasional stutter during intense sequences. The 1080p Ultra setting, at 32 FPS average, is below the 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for players who value visual fidelity and can tolerate the reduced smoothness.

At 1440p, the only setting that approaches playability is Low, with an average of 49 FPS. However, the visual quality reduction at this resolution may not justify the pixel density increase over 1080p Medium. The 4K resolution should be avoided entirely, as even Low settings only produce 26 FPS, which is insufficient for the precise movements and quick reactions required in Hitman 2's stealth mechanics. The measured data clearly indicates that 1080p Medium represents the sweet spot for this combination, balancing visual quality with consistent frame delivery.