Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Hitman 2 across three resolutions reveal a classic scaling curve that becomes progressively steeper as pixel count rises. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 254.6 FPS average, which drops to 164.4 FPS at 1440p and further to 87.9 FPS at 4K. That represents a 35.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 46.5% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load is scaling aggressively with resolution.

Moving to High settings, the pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers: 143.5 FPS at 1080p, 92.3 FPS at 1440p, and 53.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops here are 35.7% and 42.5% respectively, showing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The gap between Low and High settings widens as resolution increases, which is expected behavior for a stealth title that relies heavily on draw distance and shadow quality.

Ultra settings tell a more cautionary tale. At 1080p, the average of 108 FPS is still playable, but 1440p drops to 69.6 FPS and 4K falls to 33.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold that most hardware analyses consider the baseline for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is a 35.6% reduction, while 1440p to 4K sees a 51.6% reduction, the steepest drop of any preset tier.

The data suggests that the RX 7900 XT's 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient even at 4K, but the raw compute throughput of 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 becomes the limiting factor when pushing Ultra settings at that resolution. The combo rank of 404 out of 1795 combinations places this pairing in the upper quartile of tested configurations, though the percentile ranking of 82 for the GPU and 77 for the CPU indicate that neither component is near the absolute top of their respective categories.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for Hitman 2, and the benchmark data confirms that its architecture is well-suited to the game's rendering demands. The GPU's boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz provide substantial headroom, while the 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs handle the game's geometry and pixel fill requirements efficiently. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s are directly relevant to Hitman 2's dense environments, which feature complex textures and detailed character models.

The GPU's 20 GB of VRAM is never stressed by Hitman 2, a game released in 2018 with more modest memory requirements. Even at 4K Ultra, the data shows the frame rate dropping to 33.7 FPS not because of memory capacity issues but because of compute limitations. The 320-bit memory bus and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are overkill for this title, which explains why the scaling from Medium to High at 4K is only a 10.1 FPS difference (63.2 to 53.1) while the jump from High to Ultra costs 19.4 FPS (53.1 to 33.7).

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position relative to competitors. The PassMark G3D score of 29009 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623 place it within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile and 0.6% ahead of the RTX 4080 Mobile, according to the nearestRivals data. The GPU's percentile ranking of 82 across all GPUs indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of installed graphics cards, yet the measured FPS at 4K Ultra suggests that even this level of performance struggles with Hitman 2's most demanding preset at the highest resolution.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p (254.6 FPS versus 108 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The fact that the frame rate more than doubles when moving from Ultra to Low at 1080p indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond what the Ultra preset demands. However, at 4K, the GPU's compute limits become apparent, with the Ultra preset producing less than half the frame rate of Low settings (33.7 versus 87.9 FPS).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting but critical role in this configuration. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the Alder Lake processor provides sufficient parallelism for Hitman 2's engine, which is known to scale reasonably well across multiple threads. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz and base clock of 2.50 GHz give the processor a wide operating range, and the 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency during gameplay.

The CPU's benchmark results show a processor that sits in the middle of the pack. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 and single-core score of 2332 indicate solid performance, while the 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and 16-thread score of 5895 confirm that the processor can handle both lightly and heavily threaded workloads. The PassMark multithread score of 19433 and single-thread score of 3481 further validate this assessment.

The nearestRivals data shows the i5-12400F within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-8700K's average score of 19210 and 0.3% of the Core i5-1335U's 19167. It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7% but leads the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3%. The percentile ranking of 77 across all CPUs indicates that this processor outperforms more than three-quarters of installed CPUs, which is adequate for Hitman 2's requirements.

The measured FPS data reveals that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution or preset. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 254.6 FPS, which is well above what most displays can show, and even at 1440p Low the 164.4 FPS result suggests the CPU has headroom remaining. The fact that the frame rate at 1080p Ultra (108 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1440p High result (92.3 FPS) after accounting for resolution scaling indicates that the CPU can maintain consistent performance across different settings levels.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings based on resolution and target frame rates. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 143.5 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for background processes or streaming. The Ultra preset at 1080p still achieves 108 FPS, making it a viable choice for players who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates, but the diminishing returns from High to Ultra are noticeable given the 35.5 FPS cost.

For 1440p, the High preset's 92.3 FPS average is the sweet spot. It provides a smooth experience on high-refresh displays while maintaining visual quality. The Medium preset at 122.4 FPS offers a substantial frame rate boost for competitive play, but the visual difference between Medium and High in Hitman 2's detailed environments is significant enough that most players will prefer High. Ultra at 1440p drops to 69.6 FPS, which is still playable but approaches the threshold where frame pacing issues become noticeable.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The High preset's 53.1 FPS is marginal for a smooth experience, while Ultra's 33.7 FPS is not recommended for serious gameplay. The Medium preset at 63.2 FPS provides the best balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution. Players targeting 60 FPS at 4K should select Medium settings, while those with variable refresh rate displays may find High acceptable despite the sub-60 FPS average.

The Low preset at 4K (87.9 FPS) demonstrates that the hardware is capable of high frame rates even at this resolution, but the visual compromise is severe for a game that relies heavily on environmental detail for its stealth mechanics. The data indicates that the RX 7900 XT is powerful enough for 1440p High as the default recommendation, with 1080p Ultra as an alternative for players who prefer maximum visual fidelity over frame rate headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 1440p delivers 92.3 FPS average, which provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. Medium achieves 122.4 FPS for those who prefer higher frame rates, while Ultra drops to 69.6 FPS.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the combo achieves 63.2 FPS average, which is playable. High drops to 53.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 33.7 FPS, so Medium is the recommended preset for 4K.

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to the i7-8700K in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19221, which is 0.1% higher than the i7-8700K's 19210 average score, making them effectively equivalent in overall synthetic performance.

Q: Is the RX 7900 XT's 20 GB of VRAM beneficial for Hitman 2?

A: The 20 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient for this game, which was released in 2018. The memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s and 320-bit bus provide ample headroom, and the GPU's compute performance is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 108 FPS, which provides a smooth experience on standard 60 Hz displays and is sufficient for most 144 Hz monitors.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Hitman 2?

A: This pairing ranks 404 out of 1795 total combinations tested, placing it in the top 22.5% of all configurations. The GPU ranks at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU ranks at the 77th percentile among all CPUs.