Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

This combo sits near the bottom of the tested field for Hitman 2, ranking 1501 out of 1795 combinations tested. That placement places it in the lower 16% of all tested combos, which is a notable underperformance for a CPU that ranks in the 77th percentile among all processors and a GPU that sits at the 51st percentile. The data suggests a system that is capable of playable frame rates at lower resolutions and settings, but one that struggles significantly when pushed toward 4K or Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1501 out of 1795 places this pairing in the bottom tier of tested systems for Hitman 2. This is a striking result when considering the individual components' standings. The Intel Core i5-12400F holds a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GTX 1070 sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs. Yet together, they land in the 16th percentile of game-specific combos, indicating that the pairing is less effective in this title than either component's general-purpose benchmarks would suggest.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the Intel Core i7-8700K, which scores 19210 versus the i5-12400F's 19221 average benchmark score, a negligible 0.1% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS trails by 0.3%, while the AMD EPYC 7773X is 1.3% ahead. These rivals are all within a tight performance band, yet none of them appear in the measured game data here. The GPU's nearest rivals are similarly close: the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 is 0.7% behind, the GTX 880M is 1.3% ahead, and the GTX 1650 SUPER is 1.4% ahead. This clustering suggests that small synthetic differences can translate into meaningful gameplay gaps, and in this case, the game's demands push the combo downward.

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 a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, includes 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. The 3dmark benchmarks show a clear scaling pattern: 2-thread score of 1699, 4-thread score of 3067, 8-thread score of 4779, and max-thread score of 5912. This near-linear scaling through 8 threads suggests the CPU has ample headroom for multi-threaded workloads, which Hitman 2 can utilize.

The single-thread performance is solid as well, with a 3dmark single-thread score of 909 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2221. Cinebench R23 results show 2332 single-core and 16518 multi-core. This level of single-thread performance should prevent the CPU from bottlenecking at lower resolutions, where frame rates are higher and per-frame CPU work becomes more significant. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 115.8 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this title. The PassMark multithread score of 19433 and physics score of 1202 further indicate a capable processor for game logic and AI calculations common in stealth titles.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a Pascal architecture GPU built on TSMC's 16 nm process, containing 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1506 MHz with a boost of 1683 MHz, and its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) across a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU features 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s.

The GTX 1070's FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS is respectable for its generation, but the PassMark DirectX 12 score of 48 indicates that modern API workloads may be challenging. The DirectX 11 score of 100 is notably stronger, which aligns with Hitman 2's engine characteristics. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 13498 places it near the GTX 1650 SUPER (12504, 1.4% faster) and GTX 880M (12490, 1.3% faster). The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the bandwidth appears to become a limiting factor at 4K, where the measured frame rates drop dramatically.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable performance across most settings. Low preset achieves 115.8 FPS average, Medium drops to 88.3 FPS, High reduces to 69 FPS, and Ultra falls to 48.5 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 27.5 FPS, while Medium to High costs another 19.3 FPS. The High to Ultra transition is the steepest relative drop, losing 20.5 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with reduced headroom. Low preset still delivers a smooth 75.8 FPS, Medium drops to 56.8 FPS, High reaches 44.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30.8 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 34-37% of performance across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles severely. Low preset manages 43.4 FPS, Medium drops to 32.4 FPS, High falls to 23.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19.4 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K approaches playability, and even that is marginal for a stealth game requiring precision.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound system. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 115.8 FPS at 1080p to 75.8 FPS at 1440p (a 34.5% reduction), then to 43.4 FPS at 4K (a 42.7% reduction from 1440p). This consistent degradation with resolution indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at higher pixel counts.

At Ultra settings, the drops are even more pronounced: 48.5 FPS at 1080p, 30.8 FPS at 1440p (36.5% reduction), and 19.4 FPS at 4K (37.0% reduction from 1440p). The fact that Ultra settings show similar percentage drops to Low settings across resolutions suggests that the GPU's fixed resources (memory bandwidth and shader throughput) are the limiting factor, rather than CPU-bound scenarios.

The 1080p Low result of 115.8 FPS versus the 1080p Ultra result of 48.5 FPS indicates that settings changes have a larger impact than resolution changes at this tier. This is typical of a mid-range GPU where fill rate and memory bandwidth are the bottlenecks, not the CPU's processing ability.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at Medium settings the combo delivers 88.3 FPS, and at High it achieves 69 FPS at 1920x1080. Only the Ultra preset falls below 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: Can this system handle 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 75.8 FPS and Medium achieves 56.8 FPS. High settings drop to 44.4 FPS, so a 60 FPS target requires Medium settings or lower.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Only at Low settings does the combo reach 43.4 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium drops to 32.4 FPS, High to 23.5 FPS, and Ultra to 19.4 FPS, making 4K practical only with minimal settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F scores 19221 in average benchmarks, just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167).

Q: What is the GPU's strongest API in benchmarks?

A: The PassMark DirectX 11 score of 100 is the highest, compared to 82 for DirectX 10 and 48 for DirectX 12, suggesting the card is best suited for older API workloads.

Q: How much VRAM and bandwidth does the GPU provide?

A: The GTX 1070 offers 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but limiting at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target at 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 69 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset at 88.3 FPS offers a comfortable margin for drops, while Ultra at 48.5 FPS fails to maintain 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium settings at 56.8 FPS is the closest to 60 FPS, but Low at 75.8 FPS is the only preset that provides a consistent 60+ FPS experience. For 4K, only Low at 43.4 FPS is worth attempting, and even then the experience will be below 60 FPS.

The data suggests that this combo's sweet spot is 1080p High or 1440p Medium, depending on the user's preference for resolution versus visual fidelity. The steep performance drop from High to Ultra at every resolution indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant cost without a proportional visual benefit in this title. Players seeking smooth gameplay should prioritize the High preset at 1080p, as it offers the best frame rate per visual quality trade-off in the measured results.