Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination delivers a wide performance envelope in Hitman 2, ranging from highly playable at 4K High to exceptionally fast at 1080p Low. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the CPU providing a strong foundation for high frame rates while the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution and graphical fidelity increase.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 262.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates a massive performance headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

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

A: Yes, but it depends on the settings. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the combo achieves 48.6 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 37.3 FPS. For smoother 4K gameplay, Medium settings yield 65.5 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 42576, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000's score of 42653. It is also 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE, which scores 42723.

Q: What is the CPU's multithreaded performance relative to its peers?

A: In Cinebench R23, the i5-12400 scores 15935 points in the multicore test. Its average benchmark score of 19850 is effectively tied with the Intel Core i7-9700, which scores 19831, a difference of only 0.1%.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 96.3 FPS. This suggests a smooth experience for most displays, as it comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does lowering settings from High to Low provide a significant frame rate boost at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, dropping from High to Low increases the average frame rate from 48.6 FPS to 88.2 FPS, a substantial jump of nearly 40 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the decisive component at higher resolutions and graphical presets. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for Hitman 2's detailed environments at 4K. The GPU's architecture, Ada Lovelace, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, allowing the game to utilize modern rendering features. The core clock operates between a base of 1980 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, with a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s, which are key for maintaining visual fidelity.

The benchmark data illustrates the GPU's scaling. At 4K, the difference between Low (88.2 FPS) and High (48.6 FPS) settings is dramatic, showing that the GPU is heavily tasked with processing the increased graphical load. The RTX 4070 SUPER sits in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576. This places it in a tight competitive cluster; it trails the NVIDIA RTX A6000 by only 0.2% and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE by 0.3%, while leading the AMD Radeon Pro 580X by 1.4%. This indicates that the GPU's raw compute power is well-matched to its direct competitors, and its performance in Hitman 2 is a direct result of this robust hardware foundation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides the processing backbone for high frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less strained. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it can handle the game's simulation and AI tasks efficiently. Its architecture, Alder Lake, operates on a 10 nm process, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain low latency for game data. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory, and its performance in synthetic tests is solid. For instance, it scores 15935 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2249 in single-core.

The CPU's percentile ranking against all CPUs is 77, with an average benchmark score of 19850. This score is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, a 0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, a -0.2% difference). This suggests that the i5-12400 offers comparable processing power to those older i7 parts. In the game, this strength is visible at 1080p, where the system reaches 262.6 FPS on Low settings. At this level, the CPU is able to feed the GPU with enough data to achieve such high frame rates, indicating that it is not a bottleneck in this scenario and can support the full potential of the RTX 4070 SUPER.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo produces excellent results. Low settings yield an average of 262.6 FPS, which drops to 198.9 FPS on Medium and 152.7 FPS on High. Even on Ultra, the system maintains a high 111.6 FPS, ensuring a fluid experience on any 1080p display.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. The average FPS on Low is 170.7, which falls to 127 on Medium and 96.3 on High. Ultra settings still provide a playable 72.9 FPS. This resolution offers a good balance between visual quality and frame rate, with High settings delivering nearly 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload increases significantly. Low settings produce 88.2 FPS, but this drops to 65.5 FPS on Medium and 48.6 FPS on High. Ultra settings are the most demanding, resulting in 37.3 FPS. The data shows that 4K gaming is possible, but users will need to adjust settings to achieve their preferred smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the system's bottleneck characteristics. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 152.7 at 1080p to 96.3 at 1440p, a reduction of 56.4 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the frame rate drops further to 48.6 FPS, another 47.7 FPS decrease. This pattern is consistent across all settings, with the scaling becoming more pronounced at higher resolutions.

This scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the CPU provides enough headroom for the GPU to render frames quickly, resulting in very high frame rates. However, as resolution increases to 4K, the pixel count quadruples, and the RTX 4070 SUPER becomes the primary constraint. The GPU's rendering workload expands, causing the frame rate to fall. The fact that the drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the GPU is fully saturated at 4K, especially on Ultra settings where it manages only 37.3 FPS. This confirms that for 4K gaming, the GPU is the limiting factor in this combo.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and performance target. For users with a 1080p display, the Ultra preset is a viable choice, as it provides an average of 111.6 FPS, which is high enough for smooth gameplay while delivering the best visual quality. For those with a 1440p monitor, the High preset offers the best balance, yielding 96.3 FPS and a significant improvement in visual fidelity over Medium's 127 FPS.

For 4K gaming, the data suggests that the High preset is the sweet spot. It provides an average of 48.6 FPS, which is playable for a stealth game like Hitman 2, where precise timing is more important than ultra-fast reaction speeds. The Medium preset offers a smoother 65.5 FPS, which may be preferable for those who prioritize frame rate over graphical detail. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 37.3 FPS, is below the threshold for a comfortable experience and is not recommended. Overall, the High preset across 1440p and 4K provides the best combination of visual quality and playable performance for this hardware configuration.