Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 18 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its PCIe implementation is Gen 5 with 20 lanes available from the CPU. In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400F posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and a single-core score of 1680, while Geekbench results show 9472 multi-core and 1964 single-core points. Its Passmark multithread score is 19433, and its average benchmark score across all tests is 19039, placing it in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs tested.

Relative to its nearest rivals in the database, the i5-12400F sits essentially at parity with the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, which averages 19047 points, a delta of 0%. It is marginally ahead of the Intel Core 3 201E, which scores 19056 (-0.1% delta), and slightly behind the Intel Core i5-1335U, which scores 18982 (+0.3% delta). The AMD EPYC 7773X also scores 18979, again a 0.3% delta in favor of the i5-12400F. These differences are negligible, indicating that in raw average CPU throughput, the i5-12400F is statistically indistinguishable from this group of rivals, although its specific core configuration and clock behavior may manifest differently in game workloads.

For Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic, AI, and physics. The 6-core, 12-thread layout is well-suited for a 2018-era stealth title, which typically scales across a handful of threads rather than requiring massive core counts. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz provides strong single-thread performance for the primary game thread, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1680, which sits comfortably above the multi-core-to-single-core ratio seen in many older CPUs. The L3 cache of 18 MB shared is ample for Hitman 2’s level streaming, and the DDR4/DDR5 support allows flexibility in memory configuration, though the exact memory bandwidth impact is not directly measured in the provided data. In practice, the benchmark results show that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU can drive very high frame rates, but the limiting factor shifts to the GPU as resolution and visual fidelity increase.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD104 chip fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors. It features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units, alongside 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective. The memory subsystem comprises 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The RTX 4070 achieves a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 29.15 TFLOPS. Its TDP is 200 W, and it uses a single 16-pin power connector, with a suggested power supply of 550 W.

In the benchmark database, the RTX 4070 holds a percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which scores 37628 (0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (0.4% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (-1.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37157 (1.3% delta). These deltas are small, meaning the RTX 4070’s average performance is on par with these cards in general compute, though its gaming-specific strengths in Hitman 2 will be dictated by its 12 GB VRAM and high memory bandwidth.

For Hitman 2, the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for the game’s highest texture and shadow settings at 4K, as the measured data shows the GPU can handle Ultra settings without running into memory limitations. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that high-resolution textures and effects are streamed efficiently, which is critical for maintaining frame rates in dense environments. The boost clock of 2475 MHz provides the raw shader throughput needed for the game’s lighting and particle effects. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the average frame rate drops to 34 FPS, while at 1080p Low it reaches 236 FPS, showing a wide performance range that is heavily dependent on the settings and resolution chosen.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data for this specific CPU-GPU combination in Hitman 2, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions, providing playable frame rates without sacrificing too much visual quality. At 1080p, Medium delivers an average of 177 FPS, with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 204 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. Moving to 1440p, Medium still holds an average of 113 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 130 FPS, ensuring consistent performance even in demanding scenes. At 4K, Medium drops to an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, which is exactly at the standard 60 FPS target, making it the highest setting that maintains a playable experience at that resolution.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate, but it comes with significant performance costs. At 1080p, High achieves 134 FPS on average, which is still very smooth, but at 1440p it drops to 86 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 46 FPS. The leap from Medium to High at 4K represents a 14 FPS reduction, which is substantial and pushes the experience below the 60 FPS threshold. Conversely, Low settings are only recommended for competitive play or for users with high-refresh-rate displays, as they push frame rates to 236 FPS at 1080p and 151 FPS at 1440p, but they degrade visual quality significantly. Ultra is not recommended for any resolution in this combination, as it produces an average of 99 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K, with the latter being nearly unplayable. The data clearly shows that Medium is the sweet spot, delivering a 177 FPS average at 1080p and maintaining a 60 FPS lock at 4K, making it the best overall choice.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 916th out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 75th percentile of all combinations in the database. This is a strong result, indicating that the pairing is well-balanced for this title, though not at the very top tier. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration and the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM and high bandwidth, which together provide a consistent experience across resolutions.

Compared to other combos that might pair the i5-12400F with a higher-end GPU or the RTX 4070 with a faster CPU, this setup sits in the upper-middle range. The CPU’s 73rd percentile ranking and the GPU’s 81st percentile ranking do not simply average out to the combo’s 75th percentile position, suggesting that the GPU is the more dominant factor in Hitman 2’s performance. The data shows that at 1080p, the combo is capable of exceeding 200 FPS on Low settings, which is CPU-bound territory, but at 4K, the frame rates drop to levels that are clearly GPU-limited. This indicates that the combo’s rank is primarily driven by the RTX 4070’s capabilities, with the i5-12400F providing sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarioschers. The 916th rank out of 3711 is a solid showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU, and it suggests that users would need to step up to a significantly more powerful processor to see meaningful gains, which may not be worthwhile for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which provides insight into the limiting component of this system. At 1080p Low, the average frame rate is 236 FPS, which drops to 151 FPS at 1440p Low, a reduction of 36%, and then to 81 FPS at 4K Low, a further 46% reduction. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, but the CPU is still able to maintain high frame rates at 1080p, suggesting it is not the primary bottleneck at that resolution.

Moving to Medium settings, the frame rates are 177 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 60 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across Low and Medium settings suggest that the GPU is the limiting factor in both cases, as the CPU’s performance headroom is sufficient to handle the increased draw calls at higher resolutions. At High settings, the frame rates are 134 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 46 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop). The pattern holds, confirming that the GPU is the dominant constraint.

At Ultra settings, the frame rates are 99 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 34 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop). The uniformity of these percentage drops across all settings—roughly 36% from 1080p to 1440p and 47% from 1440p to 4K—is a strong indicator that the RTX 4070 is the sole bottleneck in this configuration. If the CPU were limiting, the frame rate would not scale so predictably with resolution, as the CPU’s workload would remain constant while the GPU’s workload increases. The data shows that the i5-12400F is not a limiting factor in Hitman 2, as even at 1080p Low, the frame rate of 236 FPS is far above what the CPU would cap at, and the consistent scaling across settings confirms the GPU’s role as the performance ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combination covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra). At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 236 FPS, while Medium reaches 177 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 204 FPS. High settings deliver 134 FPS on average, and Ultra drops to 99 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 137 FPS, showing the dramatic impact of settings on performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 151 FPS, Medium averages 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 130 FPS, High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 88 FPS, reflecting the increased GPU load at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 81 FPS, Medium averages 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, High averages 46 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 47 FPS, further emphasizing the GPU’s dominance.

The data also shows that the Medium preset is the only one that provides a minimum FPS above 60 at 1440p (96 FPS) and a minimum above 50 at 4K (51 FPS), making it the most consistent choice for maintaining playable frame rates. The High and Ultra presets at 4K have no minimum FPS recorded, but their averages of 46 and 34 FPS respectively indicate that they will struggle to maintain smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 4K averages 81 FPS, which is surprisingly high, but it sacrifices visual quality to achieve that number. Overall, the measured breakdown shows that this combination is capable of excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, but at 4K, only Low and Medium presets are viable, with Medium being the recommended choice for a balance of quality and frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming with this CPU-GPU combination?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, making it the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate near the 60 FPS target. High and Ultra average 46 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, which are too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12400F compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, which is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at 19047 (0% delta) and the Intel Core 3 201E at 19056 (-0.1% delta). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X, both scoring 18982 and 18979 respectively, with a 0.3% delta.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 236 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS, representing a difference of 137 FPS. This indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant GPU load, reducing performance by over 58% compared to Low.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 have enough VRAM for Hitman 2 at maximum settings?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 34 FPS, which indicates the GPU is compute-bound rather than VRAM-limited, as the game does not exceed the available memory capacity.

Q: How does the combination rank among all tested combos in Hitman 2?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 916th out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the upper 25% of all combos. This rank reflects a balanced pairing where the GPU is the primary performance driver.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 177 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 36% reduction), and then to 60 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 47% reduction from 1440p). This consistent scaling indicates that the GPU is the limiting component.