Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a highly capable Hitman 2 experience, but the data reveals a system that is clearly balanced toward high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming rather than 4K Ultra. The combination ranks 562nd out of 1795 tested combos, placing it in the 69th percentile of all system pairings. The measured frame rates show that while the RTX 3080 provides massive headroom at 1080p, the i5-11400F becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions, and the GPU itself struggles with the most demanding 4K settings. The sweet spot for this pairing is 1440p with High settings, where the 84.6 FPS average represents an excellent balance of visual quality and smoothness.

FAQ

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

A: The data indicates 2560x1440 is the optimal resolution. At High settings, the combo produces 84.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1080p High, the system hits 127.1 FPS, but the jump from 1440p to 1080p only yields a 50% FPS increase, suggesting diminishing returns due to CPU limitations.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 perform at 4K in this game?

A: The GPU delivers 45.6 FPS at 3840x2160 High settings and 60.1 FPS at Medium. The Ultra preset drops to 30.1 FPS, which is below playable thresholds for most users. The data shows that 4K gaming requires dropping to Medium or Low settings, with Low producing 79.7 FPS.

Q: Is the Core i5-11400F a bottleneck for the RTX 3080?

A: Yes, particularly at 1080p. The difference between 1080p High (127.1 FPS) and 1440p High (84.6 FPS) is 42.5 FPS, but the gap between 1440p High and 4K High (45.6 FPS) is 39 FPS. The scaling pattern indicates the CPU constrains performance at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom.

Q: What settings preset provides the best experience at 1440p?

A: High settings at 2560x1440 deliver 84.6 FPS, which is 21.4 FPS more than Medium's 110.6 FPS would suggest for quality, but Ultra drops to 63.2 FPS. High is the recommended preset because it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while providing better visual fidelity than Medium.

Q: How does this combo compare to other systems tested?

A: The combination ranks 562nd out of 1795 total combos, placing it in the top 31% of all pairings tested in Hitman 2. This ranking reflects the strong GPU performance tempered by the mid-range CPU, which limits the system's ability to push extreme frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 228.1 FPS, while Ultra drops to 96.1 FPS. This represents a 132 FPS difference, or a 58% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to highest quality preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, equipped with 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz and boosts to 1710 MHz, with 8704 shading units and 68 RT cores. In Hitman 2, the VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth prove sufficient even at 4K, as the game does not appear to exceed the 10 GB allocation at any measured setting.

The GPU's raw compute power is evident in the scaling across resolutions. At 1080p High, the card produces 127.1 FPS, which increases to 228.1 FPS at Low settings. The 4K results show the GPU's limits: 45.6 FPS at High and 30.1 FPS at Ultra. The RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate are clearly the primary drivers of the high frame rates at 1440p and below, but the card's architecture is pushed to its limits at 4K Ultra where the 96 ROPs and 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate become the bottleneck.

The percentile ranking of 80th among all GPUs confirms the RTX 3080's position as a high-end card. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35860 versus the RTX 3080's 35787 average benchmark score, a negligible 0.2% difference. The RTX 3080 outperforms the AMD Radeon 880M by 0.4% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile by 1%, but trails the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE by 0.9%. These close margins in synthetic benchmarks translate to the measured FPS data, where the card's performance in Hitman 2 aligns with its overall GPU class.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling from 1440p to 4K, but CPU-bound behavior at 1080p. Moving from 1080p High (127.1 FPS) to 1440p High (84.6 FPS) results in a 33% performance drop, which is consistent with the increased pixel count demanding more GPU resources. However, the jump from 1440p High to 4K High (45.6 FPS) is a 46% reduction, showing that the GPU is being saturated at 4K.

The Low settings preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 228.1 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it drops to 143.2 FPS (a 37% reduction), and at 4K Low, it falls to 79.7 FPS (a 44% reduction from 1440p). The relatively smaller gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings compared to High settings suggests the CPU begins to limit performance at 1080p when the GPU load is light.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the i5-11400F with its 6 cores and 12 threads prevents the RTX 3080 from fully stretching its legs. The 228.1 FPS at 1080p Low is impressive, but the GPU is capable of more if the CPU could feed it faster. At 1440p, the balance shifts to being primarily GPU-bound, and at 4K, the RTX 3080 becomes the clear limiting factor. This is why the Ultra preset at 4K produces only 30.1 FPS, a 66% drop from 4K Low.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, High settings at 127.1 FPS provide the best experience, as the 96.1 FPS at Ultra is still smooth but the visual gain is modest. The Medium preset at 167.7 FPS is unnecessary for most displays, and Low at 228.1 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for frame rates that exceed typical monitor refresh rates.

At 1440p, High settings at 84.6 FPS is the clear recommendation. The Medium preset delivers 110.6 FPS, but the drop to High only costs 26 FPS while providing substantially better visuals. Ultra at 63.2 FPS is playable, but the 21.4 FPS loss from High makes it a poor trade-off for the marginal quality increase. This aligns with the 1440p High sweet spot observed in many other titles.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests Medium settings at 60.1 FPS is the only viable option for a consistent 60 FPS experience. High at 45.6 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 30.1 FPS is not recommended for fast-paced stealth action. Low at 79.7 FPS is playable but defeats the purpose of 4K resolution. Users prioritizing 4K should accept Medium settings, while those wanting higher visual fidelity should drop to 1440p High for a superior overall experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 228.1 FPS, Medium achieves 167.7 FPS, High reaches 127.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 96.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 132 FPS range, with each preset step costing approximately 30-40 FPS. The 96.1 FPS at Ultra is still above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for users with high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction. Low settings achieve 143.2 FPS, Medium delivers 110.6 FPS, High produces 84.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63.2 FPS. The 63.2 FPS at Ultra is just barely above the 60 FPS threshold, making it playable but with little headroom for demanding scenes. The 84.6 FPS at High offers a comfortable buffer while maintaining excellent visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 is clearly stressed. Low settings yield 79.7 FPS, Medium drops to 60.1 FPS, High falls to 45.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 30.1 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 14.5 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 15.5 FPS, showing a consistent degradation pattern. The 30.1 FPS at Ultra is not recommended for gameplay, as it falls well below the 60 FPS target and even below the 30 FPS minimum for acceptable playability in some circles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.60 GHz and boosts to 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's 3DMark scores show a single-thread score of 868 and a max-thread score of 5652, indicating moderate single-core performance that is adequate for gaming but not exceptional.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the FPS scaling at low resolutions. The 228.1 FPS at 1080p Low is likely near the CPU's maximum frame rate capability, as the GPU is not heavily loaded at these settings. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 suggest the i5-11400F has enough processing power to handle the game's AI and physics systems, but the 12 threads are not sufficient to fully saturate the RTX 3080's capabilities at 1080p.

The CPU's 75th percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 17181, places it near the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, 0% difference) and Intel Core i7-1260P (17212, -0.2%). This mid-range positioning explains why the combo ranks 562nd out of 1795: the GPU is high-end, but the CPU is only average, creating a system that excels at higher resolutions where the GPU dominates but falls short of top-tier performance at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 562nd out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 69th percentile of all systems tested. This ranking reflects a system that is better than the majority of pairings but not among the elite combinations. The rank is driven by the RTX 3080's strong GPU performance, which is offset by the i5-11400F's mid-range CPU capabilities.

The ranking suggests that this combo outperforms roughly 69% of all tested systems, which is a solid result for a pairing that includes a CPU in the 75th percentile and a GPU in the 80th percentile. The gap between the CPU and GPU percentiles is the primary factor holding the combo back from a higher rank. Systems with higher-ranked CPUs paired with the RTX 3080 would likely achieve better frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU bottleneck is most pronounced.

The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the GPU's power is fully utilized and the CPU's limitations are less impactful. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, but the combo still performs respectably at Medium settings. The 562nd rank out of 1795 confirms that this is a capable mid-to-high-tier system, but users seeking top-tier performance should consider a stronger CPU to complement the RTX 3080's capabilities.