Hitman 2

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 shows a clear hierarchy across presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 146.7 FPS average, which is more than double the 64 FPS average seen on Ultra. The Medium preset hits 109.6 FPS, while High lands at 85.8 FPS. For competitive or high-refresh gameplay, Low at 1080p is the only preset that pushes past the 144 Hz threshold, making it the choice for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts. Low still manages 91.3 FPS, but Medium drops to 68.5 FPS and High falls to 54.7 FPS. Ultra is playable at 37.7 FPS but feels sluggish for a stealth title where precise timing matters. For 1440p users, the Medium preset offers the best balance: 68.5 FPS is smooth enough for most displays, and the visual jump from Low to Medium is substantial in a game that relies on environmental detail for hiding spots and line-of-sight planning.

At 3840x2160, the RX 7600 struggles. Low produces 50.1 FPS, Medium drops to 36.6 FPS, High falls to 28.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 18.6 FPS. None of these hit the 60 FPS target, so 4K gaming with this combo means accepting a compromised experience. The data suggests that 1080p Medium or High is the sweet spot for this hardware, delivering 109.6 FPS and 85.8 FPS respectively. The recommendation is to start at 1080p Medium and adjust upward only if your display and tolerance for frame drops allow it.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings six cores and twelve threads to the table, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are relevant for Hitman 2's simulated crowd AI and physics interactions. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip scores 5873 in 3dmark_16_threads and 5890 in 3dmark_max_threads, indicating that multithreaded scaling is nearly flat beyond eight threads — a pattern that matches Hitman 2's engine, which rarely uses more than a handful of cores effectively.

The CPU's single-thread performance is strong: 3dmark_single_thread scores 910, and Cinebench R23 single-core scores 2249. This matters for Hitman 2, where the game logic, NPC schedules, and player actions are largely serialized. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 146.7 FPS, which is substantially higher than at 4K Low (50.1 FPS). That 96.6 FPS gap indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, but at 1080p Low the CPU has enough headroom to keep feeding frames.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400 sits within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-11600K (which scores 19771, deltaPct 0.4) and 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, deltaPct 0.1). It trails the Intel Core i7-8700 by 0.2% (19894). These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, but they confirm that the i5-12400 is not holding back the RX 7600 in this title. The CPU percentile of 77 versus all CPUs reinforces that this is a capable mid-range part for Hitman 2.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hitman 2 at 60 FPS on Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 64, which clears the 60 FPS bar. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average drops to 37.7 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra it falls to 18.6 FPS. So, 1080p Ultra is viable, but higher resolutions are not.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets remain playable. Low hits 146.7 FPS, Medium 109.6 FPS, High 85.8 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (91.3 FPS) and Medium (68.5 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RX 7600 scores 20258 on average, which is 0.6% behind the RX 7600 XT (20146, deltaPct 0.6) and 0.8% behind the RX 460 (20088, deltaPct 0.8). It beats the RTX 3070 Mobile by 1.3% (20534, deltaPct -1.3) and the Intel Arc B570 by 1.5% (20556, deltaPct -1.5).

Q: Is the i5-12400 a bottleneck for the RX 7600 in Hitman 2?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The FPS drop from 1080p Low (146.7) to 4K Low (50.1) is a 96.6 FPS decline, which aligns with GPU-bound behavior. The CPU's 5890 max-thread score shows ample headroom for this game's threading model.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average for 2560x1440 High is 54.7 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target but still playable for a stealth game where reaction times are less critical than in fast-paced shooters.

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

A: The combo ranks 1242 out of 1795 tested combinations (comboRankInGame). This places it in the lower third of the field, reflecting that while it handles 1080p well, it is not a high-end performer at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + AMD Radeon RX 7600 ranks 1242 out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2. That puts it at roughly the 69th percentile of tested systems, meaning about 31% of tested combos outperform it. This is a mid-pack result, which is consistent with the hardware tier: the CPU sits at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

The ranking reflects that this combo is well-matched for 1080p gaming but falls behind at higher resolutions. Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i5-12400 is essentially tied with the i7-9700 (0.1% delta) and i7-8700 (-0.2% delta), so swapping those CPUs would not meaningfully change the game's performance. The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern: the RX 7600 XT is only 0.6% faster, so a step up to that card would yield marginal gains in Hitman 2.

The rank of 1242 suggests that within the tested database, many combos pair stronger GPUs with similar CPUs. Since the FPS data shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck as resolution increases, the ranking would likely improve if this CPU were paired with a faster GPU. Conversely, pairing the RX 7600 with a weaker CPU would likely drop the rank further, as the CPU's 4.40 GHz boost clock is sufficient to keep up at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a steep drop as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 146.7 at 1080p to 91.3 at 1440p (a 37.8% decrease) and then to 50.1 at 4K (a 45.1% decrease from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 85.8 at 1080p, 54.7 at 1440p, and 28.9 at 4K. The 4K High result is only about one-third of the 1080p High result, which is a typical pattern for a GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit bus.

This scaling pattern indicates that the RX 7600 is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K. The GPU's 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 2048 shading units are simply not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially with Ultra settings that push the average down to 18.6 FPS. The CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases: at 1080p Low, the CPU has to work harder to feed frames, but at 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (146.7) and Ultra (64) is 82.7 FPS. At 4K, the difference is 31.5 FPS (50.1 vs 18.6). This suggests that Ultra settings at 4K are not just GPU-heavy but also memory-bandwidth intensive, and the RX 7600's 128-bit bus becomes a serious constraint. For players targeting 4K, the Low preset is the only one that approaches playability, and even then, 50.1 FPS is below the ideal 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full preset range is playable. Low averages 146.7 FPS, Medium 109.6 FPS, High 85.8 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 37.1 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 23.8 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 21.8 FPS. Each preset tier reduces performance by roughly 20-25%, which is a predictable scaling curve for this hardware.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 91.3 FPS (Low), 68.5 FPS (Medium), 54.7 FPS (High), and 37.7 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p results show that Medium is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS. High and Ultra are viable for slower-paced gameplay, but they do not meet the 60 FPS target. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is consistent: Low loses 55.4 FPS, Medium loses 41.1 FPS, High loses 31.1 FPS, and Ultra loses 26.3 FPS. This indicates that lower presets are more resolution-sensitive because they reduce GPU load, exposing the GPU's raw pixel throughput limits.

At 3840x2160, the results are 50.1 FPS (Low), 36.6 FPS (Medium), 28.9 FPS (High), and 18.6 FPS (Ultra). Only Low exceeds 30 FPS, which is the minimum for console-like playability. The 4K Ultra result of 18.6 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay and would be noticeable in crowded scenes with multiple NPCs. The data suggests that 4K is not a practical target for this combo unless the player is willing to accept Low settings and frame rates in the 50 FPS range. For the best experience, 1080p Medium or High delivers the highest frame rates with acceptable visual quality, while 1440p Medium offers a good middle ground for players with 1440p displays.