Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i5-12400F + AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a playable but resolution-sensitive experience in Hitman 2, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo produces strong frame rates across all settings, but 4K Ultra drops to just 22 FPS, indicating that this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 86 FPS at 1080p to 55 FPS at 1440p, then plummets to 29 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and an additional 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the RX 7600 XT's 16 GB memory buffer and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for capacity, but the GPU's raw compute throughput becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture, with min and max FPS values recorded at every resolution. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 114 FPS with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 131 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 73 FPS (min 62, max 84), and at 4K Medium, the average falls to 39 FPS (min 33, max 45). The consistent ratio between min and max FPS across resolutions suggests stable frame pacing rather than sudden spikes or drops.

Low settings exhibit the most dramatic resolution scaling, starting at 152 FPS at 1080p, falling to 97 FPS at 1440p, and reaching 52 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still above the 30 FPS playability threshold, but the 52 FPS figure represents a 66% reduction from the 1080p Low result. This steep decline confirms that pixel fill rate and shading throughput, rather than CPU limitations, dominate at 4K.

Ultra settings show the heaviest burden, with 63 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and just 22 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below the 30 FPS minimum for smooth gameplay, making this combination impractical at the highest preset and resolution. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra (63 to 41 FPS) is a 35% reduction, while the 1440p to 4K drop (41 to 22 FPS) is a 46% reduction, mirroring the pattern seen at High settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. In Hitman 2, a stealth game that typically engages a limited number of threads for AI and simulation, this configuration is more than adequate.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability. In Cinebench R23, the i5-12400F scores 1680 points single-core and 12380 points multi-core. The single-core result is particularly relevant for Hitman 2, as the game's engine often relies on one or two heavily loaded threads for game logic and scene management. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and 2-thread score of 1699 further demonstrate that the processor can sustain high clocks on lightly threaded workloads.

The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19039, places it in the upper-middle tier of processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (avgScore 19047, deltaPct 0) and Intel Core 3 201E (avgScore 19056, deltaPct -0.1), showing the i5-12400F sits within a tight performance cluster. The deltaPct values of 0.3% against the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X indicate that these processors are effectively indistinguishable in synthetic benchmarks.

Given that the 1080p Low setting reaches 152 FPS, the CPU is clearly not a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The frame rate ceiling at 1080p Low is likely constrained by the GPU's geometry and draw call throughput rather than CPU processing. The 12 threads provide sufficient parallelism for Hitman 2's background tasks, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 2357 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 36th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking reflects the balance between the i5-12400F's mid-range CPU performance and the RX 7600 XT's upper-mid-range GPU capabilities. While the individual components rank higher in their respective categories — the CPU at the 73rd percentile and the GPU at the 60th percentile — the combined result in this game is moderated by the GPU's resolution scaling characteristics.

The comboRankInGame of 2357 suggests that many other pairings deliver better Hitman 2 performance, likely due to more powerful GPUs that can maintain higher frame rates at 1440p and 4K. However, the ranking does not account for the specific settings where this combo excels. At 1080p Medium and High, the measured FPS of 114 and 86 respectively would place this combo in a much more favorable position relative to the full test pool.

The discrepancy between the combo's overall rank and its 1080p performance highlights Hitman 2's sensitivity to GPU compute. The RX 7600 XT's 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 2048 shading units are sufficient for 1080p but struggle to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is not the limiting factor — even at 4K Ultra, the memory allocation would not exceed 16 GB in most scenes — but the 128-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth constrain texture and geometry throughput at high resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 86 at 1920x1080 with High settings, providing a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: At 4K, only Low settings achieve a playable 52 FPS average. Medium drops to 39 FPS, High to 29 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS, making 4K viable only at Low settings.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 7600 XT scores 17132 in Passmark G3D, ranking at the 60th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, scores 17208 with a deltaPct of -0.7%, meaning the RTX 3070 is 0.7% faster. The GTX 690 trails by 0.3%.

Q: Does the i5-12400F bottleneck the RX 7600 XT in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 152 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops from 1440p to 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for a balanced experience?

A: 1440p with Medium settings delivers 73 FPS average with a 62 FPS minimum, offering a good balance between visual quality and smoothness. High settings at 1440p achieve 55 FPS.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 7600 XT have, and is it sufficient?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is ample for Hitman 2 at all resolutions, as the game does not require more than 16 GB even at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, based on the Navi 33 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, is the primary determinant of frame rates in this pairing. Its 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs provide the compute foundation, while the 1980 MHz base clock and 2755 MHz boost clock deliver the execution speed. The 2470 MHz game clock represents the typical sustained frequency during gaming workloads.

The GPU's 16 GB GDDR6 memory operates at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), yielding 288.0 GB/s bandwidth across the 128-bit bus. This memory configuration is notable for its capacity — double what many competitors offer — but the narrow bus limits bandwidth. In Hitman 2, which features detailed environments and multiple NPCs, the 16 GB capacity prevents texture thrashing, but the bandwidth constraint becomes apparent as resolution increases.

Synthetic benchmarks show the RX 7600 XT scores 17132 in Passmark G3D and 92426 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it at the 60th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, scores 17208 with a deltaPct of -0.7%, indicating the two are closely matched in aggregate benchmarks. However, the RX 7600 XT's performance in Hitman 2 at 4K suggests that its 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for high-resolution rendering at high presets.

The GPU's 32 ray tracing cores are present but irrelevant for Hitman 2, which does not utilize ray tracing. The 64 ROPs provide a pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s, which directly impacts fill-rate-bound scenarios at 4K. The texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s, combined with the 128 TMUs, handles filtered texture lookups but is taxed by the game's dense environments at Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 114 FPS average with a 97 FPS minimum, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS for competitive play or high refresh rate displays. High settings at 1080p yield 86 FPS, still smooth, while Ultra achieves 63 FPS — playable but with less headroom for demanding scenes.

For 2560x1440, Medium settings are the sweet spot at 73 FPS average (62 FPS minimum), offering a smooth experience with reduced visual fidelity compared to High. High settings at 1440p produce 55 FPS, which is acceptable for slower-paced stealth gameplay but may feel less fluid in action sequences. Ultra at 1440p drops to 41 FPS, making it a marginal choice.

At 3840x2160, only Low settings provide a consistently playable experience at 52 FPS. Medium at 4K averages 39 FPS (33 FPS minimum), which is borderline for a stealth game where precise timing matters. High and Ultra at 4K fall to 29 FPS and 22 FPS respectively, below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable gameplay.

The data indicates that the best experience-per-setting tradeoff occurs at 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium. Both configurations maintain minimum FPS above 60 and 62 respectively, ensuring smooth frame delivery. For players prioritizing visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Ultra at 63 FPS offers the highest preset while staying above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings ladder is available with playable results. Low settings achieve 152 FPS average, Medium reaches 114 FPS (min 97, max 131), High delivers 86 FPS, and Ultra produces 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 89 FPS, a 59% reduction, showing the substantial cost of higher presets at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 97 FPS, Medium averages 73 FPS (min 62, max 84), High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 41 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 62 FPS is notable — it remains above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1440p Medium the highest resolution-settings combination that maintains a 60+ FPS floor.

At 3840x2160, the performance envelope narrows significantly. Low settings average 52 FPS, Medium averages 39 FPS (min 33, max 45), High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 22 FPS. The 33 FPS minimum at Medium is the lowest recorded value across all tested configurations, indicating that even the medium preset struggles during demanding scenes at 4K.

The complete dataset shows a consistent pattern: the RX 7600 XT's performance in Hitman 2 is heavily resolution-bound, with each step from 1080p to 1440p to 4K imposing a roughly 35-50% performance penalty. The CPU, by contrast, maintains sufficient headroom throughout, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium. This pairing is best characterized as a 1080p-to-1440p solution, with 4K gaming limited to Low settings for acceptable performance.