Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

The pairing of Intel's Core i5-11400F with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 produces a surprisingly wide performance spread in Hitman 2, swinging from 173.1 FPS at 1080p Low to just 22.4 FPS at 4K Ultra. This measured data reveals a system that is clearly capable of high-refresh-rate stealth action at mainstream resolutions, yet struggles to maintain playable frame rates when the resolution and settings are pushed to their extremes. The combination ranks 1050th out of 1795 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which invites a closer look at where the bottlenecks lie and how the hardware responds to different workloads.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, and the pattern tells a clear story about the limiting component. At High settings, the RTX 4060 delivers 100.7 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 61.3 FPS at 1440p, a 39.1% reduction. Moving further to 4K High, the average drops to 32.6 FPS, representing a 67.6% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline as resolution increases points squarely at the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, since the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count the way the GPU's does.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the system produces 173.1 FPS at 1080p, 107.3 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is just 33.5% of the 1080p number, indicating that even at the lowest quality settings, the GPU is still the limiting factor at 4K. For Medium settings, the progression goes 129.1 FPS at 1080p, 80.2 FPS at 1440p, and 41.6 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings show the most punishing scaling: 70.7 FPS at 1080p, 46.3 FPS at 1440p, and 22.4 FPS at 4K, the latter being only 31.7% of the 1080p performance.

These numbers suggest that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination if the goal is smooth gameplay. The gap between 1440p and 4K is consistently around 46-48% across all settings, which is a typical signature of a GPU that has exhausted its memory bandwidth and raw compute headroom. The data implies that Hitman 2 at 4K is beyond the RTX 4060's comfortable reach, regardless of the quality preset selected.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060's specifications provide context for the measured results. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the card delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present but Hitman 2, released in 2018, does not leverage ray tracing or DLSS in these measurements, so the card's Ada Lovelace architecture advantages are largely unused in this title. The base clock of 1830 MHz and boost clock of 2460 MHz are decent, but the 115 W TDP suggests a power-efficient design that relies on architectural efficiency rather than raw clock speed.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% lower score), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.7% lower), the Intel Arc B580 (0.7% higher), and the AMD Radeon 760M (0.8% higher). This tight cluster of competitors, all within 0.8% of each other, indicates that the RTX 4060 sits in a crowded performance tier. In Hitman 2 specifically, the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 22.4 FPS suggests that the memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are stretched thin at that resolution.

The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are moderate figures that align with the observed 1080p and 1440p performance. At 4K, the card's 48 ROPs seem to be a limiting factor, as the fill rate requirements quadruple compared to 1080p. The data suggests that the RTX 4060 is a 1080p-to-1440p card for Hitman 2, with 4K being reserved for lower settings or users willing to accept sub-60 FPS averages.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, High settings with 100.7 FPS offers a strong balance of visual quality and smoothness, comfortably exceeding 60 FPS and approaching 100 FPS territory. Ultra at 1080p drops to 70.7 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices 30% of the frame rate for marginal visual gains. For users with 144 Hz displays, Medium at 1080p delivers 129.1 FPS, while Low pushes to 173.1 FPS, both viable options for competitive play.

At 1440p, High settings at 61.3 FPS just barely clears the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for a smooth experience. Medium at 1440p provides 80.2 FPS, which is a better option for those who prioritize frame rate over fidelity. Ultra at 1440p drops to 46.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard and likely to feel less fluid. Low at 1440p at 107.3 FPS is an outlier that suggests the game is well-optimized for lower settings at this resolution.

The 4K results are uniformly poor for this combination. High at 4K produces 32.6 FPS, Medium produces 41.6 FPS, and Low produces 58 FPS. Only Low at 4K approaches playability, but even that falls short of 60 FPS. Ultra at 4K at 22.4 FPS is effectively unplayable for most users. The data strongly indicates that 4K is not a viable resolution for this combination in Hitman 2, and users should target 1080p or 1440p for the best experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset shows a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the frame rates range from 173.1 FPS at Low to 70.7 FPS at Ultra, with Medium at 129.1 FPS and High at 100.7 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 44 FPS (25.4% reduction), from Medium to High costs 28.4 FPS (22%), and from High to Ultra costs 30 FPS (29.8%). This indicates that each settings tier has a meaningful impact on performance, with no single preset being disproportionately expensive.

At 1440p, the range is 107.3 FPS at Low down to 46.3 FPS at Ultra. Medium delivers 80.2 FPS and High delivers 61.3 FPS. The percentage drops between presets are similar to 1080p: Low to Medium is 25.2%, Medium to High is 23.6%, and High to Ultra is 24.5%. This consistency suggests that the settings scaling is resolution-independent, with each preset tier costing roughly a quarter of the previous tier's performance.

At 4K, the numbers compress significantly. Low produces 58 FPS, Medium produces 41.6 FPS, High produces 32.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 22.4 FPS. The percentage drops are steeper: Low to Medium is 28.3%, Medium to High is 21.6%, and High to Ultra is 31.3%. The absolute differences are smaller due to the lower baseline, but the relative impact of Ultra settings at 4K is the most severe in the entire dataset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i5-11400F and RTX 4060 ranks 1050th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 41.5% of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component scores: the CPU sits at the 75th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU sits at the 66th percentile. The combination underperforms relative to what the component percentiles might suggest, which could indicate that Hitman 2 is not particularly well-optimized for this hardware pairing or that the game's engine favors other configurations.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), the Intel Core i7-1260P (0.2% lower), the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i5-1240U (0.2% higher). These are all mobile or low-power parts, which is notable because the i5-11400F is a desktop chip with a 65 W TDP. The fact that it trades blows with mobile processors in synthetic benchmarks suggests that Hitman 2's CPU demands are modest, and the 1050th ranking may be more about the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions than the CPU's capabilities.

The GPU's nearest rivals are similarly tightly grouped, with the RX 6600M, GTX 780 Ti, Arc B580, and Radeon 760M all within 0.8% of the RTX 4060's average score. This competitive cluster means that the RTX 4060's ranking in Hitman 2 is highly sensitive to the game's specific optimization, and small differences in driver support or game settings could shift the position significantly.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Rocket Lake architecture chip, built on Intel's 14 nm process, has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory. Its synthetic benchmark scores are respectable: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, along with a Geekbench multicore score of 7579 and single-core score of 1979. The CPU's percentile ranking of 75th among all CPUs indicates solid mainstream performance.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The frame rates at 1080p Low (173.1 FPS) suggest that the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond the 60 FPS threshold, and even at 1080p Ultra (70.7 FPS), the CPU shows no signs of bottlenecking. The 3DMark scores provide additional context: 5619 for 16 threads and 5652 for max threads, which are close, indicating that the 6-core/12-thread configuration scales well with the game's threading. The single-thread score of 868 in 3DMark and 204 in Cinebench R15 single-core suggest that the architecture's per-core performance is adequate for Hitman 2's demands.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate that this is a mature, power-efficient part. Its release date of 2021-03-15 with a launch MSRP of $157 positioned it as a mainstream option, though the pricing is not relevant to performance analysis. The 14 nm process node and 276 mm² die size are larger than the GPU's 5 nm process and 159 mm² die, but the CPU's performance in this game is clearly sufficient, as the data shows no CPU-related frame rate limitations at any resolution or settings combination tested.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p High provides 61.3 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold, while 1080p High delivers 100.7 FPS. For the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, 1440p High is recommended, with 1080p High as a higher-frame-rate alternative.

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

A: 4K performance is weak across all settings. The best 4K result is 58 FPS at Low settings, while High produces 32.6 FPS and Ultra only 22.4 FPS. The data suggests 4K is not viable for a consistent 60 FPS experience with this combination.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 places it within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, Intel Arc B580, and AMD Radeon 760M. The closest rival is the RX 6600M at 0.6% higher score.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops consistently from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU shows no signs of limiting performance, with 173.1 FPS achieved at 1080p Low.

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

A: Medium settings at 1440p deliver 80.2 FPS, which is the best combination of quality and speed. High settings at 61.3 FPS is also acceptable, but Ultra drops to 46.3 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS standard.

Q: How does this combination rank among all tested combos in Hitman 2?

A: The combo ranks 1050th out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This is below what the individual component percentiles (CPU 75th, GPU 66th) might suggest, indicating the game's optimization favors other hardware pairings.