Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a solid 1080p and 1440p experience in Hitman 2, but the data shows that High settings at 1440p is the sweet spot for this combination, offering a smooth 62.7 FPS average while maintaining visual fidelity. At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates on higher presets, indicating a clear GPU limitation.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific CPU-GPU pairing in Hitman 2, the benchmark results point to High settings at 2560x1440 as the optimal experience. The measured 62.7 FPS average at this configuration clears the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while the step down to Medium settings only yields a marginal improvement to 84.1 FPS. The visual quality jump from Medium to High is generally more noticeable in a stealth title where shadow detail and draw distance matter for spotting enemies.

At 1920x1080, High settings deliver an excellent 100.8 FPS average, making this the best choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 71.7 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 29% performance penalty compared to High. Given that the frame rate at High exceeds 100 FPS, there is little reason to sacrifice visual quality for the extra headroom unless targeting a 144Hz display.

For 4K resolution, the data strongly suggests sticking to Low settings if 4K is a priority. The 59.5 FPS average at Low is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, while Medium drops to 44.1 FPS and High falls to 34.8 FPS. Ultra at 4K is effectively unplayable at 21.7 FPS. Users should treat 4K as a secondary option and prioritize 1440p for the best balance of image quality and performance.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth proves to be a significant factor in Hitman 2’s performance scaling. The GPU’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz, combined with 3072 shading units, drive the frame rates across all tested configurations. The data reveals that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions: the frame rate drops from 100.8 FPS at 1080p High to 62.7 FPS at 1440p High, a 38% reduction, and further to 34.8 FPS at 4K High, a 65% reduction from the 1080p baseline.

The GPU’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient for 1080p Ultra at 71.7 FPS, but the 4K Ultra result of 21.7 FPS shows the memory bandwidth and 8 GB capacity become limiting factors at that resolution. The RTX 4060’s percentile rank of 66 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, scores 23321 (0.6% higher), while the Intel Arc B580 trails by 0.7% with a score of 23021, indicating the RTX 4060 is competitively positioned within its class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, to this pairing. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 10 nm Alder Lake architecture provide the processing foundation for Hitman 2’s AI-driven stealth mechanics. The CPU’s benchmark results show strong single-thread performance: a 3dmark single-thread score of 910 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2249, both of which are critical for a game that relies heavily on NPC behavior and detection calculations.

The multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 and a Passmark multithread score of 18747. The CPU places in the 77th percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 19850, sitting within 0.4% of the Intel Core i5-11600K (19771) and 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894). At 1080p, the CPU keeps pace with the GPU across all settings — the jump from 71.7 FPS at Ultra to 169.7 FPS at Low suggests the processor can feed the GPU up to very high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Hitman 2, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds a combo rank of 1022 out of 1795 tested configurations. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 43% of the systems tested in this game. The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing: the CPU’s 77th percentile standing and the GPU’s 66th percentile standing combine to deliver consistent results across most settings.

The combo’s rank is likely held back by the GPU’s performance at 4K, where the frame rates fall below playable thresholds on higher presets. At 1080p and 1440p, however, the combination outperforms its overall ranking would suggest, with High preset results of 100.8 FPS and 62.7 FPS respectively. This indicates the combo is well-suited for mainstream gaming resolutions but not for enthusiast 4K setups.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 on High settings delivers 100.8 FPS average, while 2560x1440 on High achieves 62.7 FPS. For the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, 1440p High is recommended, with 1080p High as the higher-performance alternative.

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

A: Only at Low settings, which produces a 59.5 FPS average. Medium drops to 44.1 FPS, High to 34.8 FPS, and Ultra to 21.7 FPS, making anything above Low at 4K difficult to play smoothly.

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

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 23181. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23321 (0.6% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 23338 (0.7% higher), and the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021 (0.7% lower).

Q: Is the i5-12400 CPU holding back the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: The CPU’s single-thread score of 910 in 3dmark and 2249 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can support frame rates well above 100 FPS. At 1080p Low the combo reaches 169.7 FPS, indicating the CPU is not a limiting factor at typical settings.

Q: What is the FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1080p?

A: High settings produce 100.8 FPS, while Ultra drops to 71.7 FPS — a 29 FPS reduction. The visual uplift from Ultra may not justify the performance cost for most players.

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

A: It ranks 1022 out of 1795 total combos tested in Hitman 2. This places it in the upper 43% of all configurations, reflecting solid mid-range performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear progression across presets. Low settings deliver 169.7 FPS average, Medium achieves 130 FPS, High reaches 100.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 71.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 98 FPS, representing a 58% reduction in performance as visual fidelity increases.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings produce 112.1 FPS average, Medium delivers 84.1 FPS, High achieves 62.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 46.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 65.8 FPS, a 59% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the performance ceiling is much lower. Low settings yield 59.5 FPS average, Medium produces 44.1 FPS, High reaches 34.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 21.7 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra spans 37.8 FPS, a 64% reduction. Notably, 4K Low is nearly identical in performance to 1440p Ultra (59.5 vs 46.3 FPS), showing how resolution scaling impacts the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. From 1080p High (100.8 FPS) to 1440p High (62.7 FPS), the frame rate drops by 38%, which closely matches the pixel count increase of 78% (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels) — though the GPU’s fixed overheads soften the impact. The jump from 1440p High to 4K High (34.8 FPS) represents a further 44% reduction, while pixel count increases by 125% (to 8.29 million pixels).

This scaling behavior identifies the GPU as the primary limiting component. The CPU’s performance headroom, evidenced by the 169.7 FPS result at 1080p Low, is not the constraint. The RTX 4060’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM capacity are the likely culprits at 4K, where texture data exceeds comfortable capacity. The result is that this combo is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where the GPU can maintain high frame rates, while 4K should be reserved for Low settings or avoided entirely.