Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers a strong, if not flawless, experience in Hitman 2. The benchmark data shows a combination that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the RTX 3070 Ti becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the system is clearly CPU-bound at lower settings, but by 4K the GPU’s workload dominates. This analysis walks through the measured FPS rows to explain exactly where the bottleneck lies and what users can expect from each configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a steep performance cost that is almost entirely GPU-driven. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 117.9 FPS at 1080p to 76.8 FPS at 1440p, then falls further to 40.1 FPS at 4K. That represents a 66% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a typical pattern for a title where the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are pushed hard by the higher resolutions. The scaling is consistent across all presets: Low settings go from 207 FPS at 1080p down to 69.7 FPS at 4K, while Ultra drops from 87.9 FPS to 31.7 FPS over the same range.

The shape of these curves indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 207 FPS figure is extraordinarily high, suggesting the i5-12600KF’s 10 cores and 16 threads are feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them, but the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 74.5 FPS — a substantial drop that points to the GPU becoming the constraint. By 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 38 FPS (69.7 vs 31.7), which is a much narrower band than at 1080p, where Low and Ultra differ by 119.1 FPS. This compression at 4K is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario where the graphics card’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the deciding factors.

The RTX 3070 Ti’s boost clock of 1770 MHz and base clock of 1575 MHz are moderate for the Ampere generation, but the card’s 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate are what determine the 4K results. The data shows that 4K Ultra at 31.7 FPS is barely playable, while 4K High at 40.1 FPS is borderline. Users targeting 4K will need to drop to Medium (50.6 FPS) or Low (69.7 FPS) to achieve smoother motion, but the 1440p numbers are far more forgiving.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-12600KF and RTX 3070 Ti ranks 703rd out of 1795 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the upper-middle tier of the database, which is consistent with the hardware’s specifications. The CPU’s percentile ranking against all processors is 84, meaning it outperforms 84% of tested CPUs, while the GPU’s percentile is 74. These individual rankings suggest the combo is slightly held back by the graphics card, as the CPU is a stronger component relative to its peers.

In terms of nearest rivals, the i5-12600KF’s average benchmark score of 27827 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K’s 27829, with a delta of 0%. This is remarkable because the i9-10900K is a higher-tier part from an older generation, yet the 12th-gen i5 matches it in average performance. The i5-12600K scores 27851, which is only 0.1% higher, and the Core Ultra 5 125H is 0.2% behind. The only rival that edges ahead is the Core i7-13700H, with a 0.4% higher score. These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the i5-12600KF is perfectly competitive with these alternatives.

For the GPU, the RTX 3070 Ti’s average benchmark score of 30849 sits between the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (30755, 0.3% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (31112, 0.8% behind). The NVIDIA Quadro M5000 is 0.9% ahead, and the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is 1.2% behind. These rivals are not direct gaming equivalents, but the deltas show that the RTX 3070 Ti is in a tight performance cluster. The 703rd rank out of 1795 reflects this mid-pack positioning, and the measured FPS data confirms that the combo is neither a top-tier champion nor a budget failure.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB of GDDR6X memory is a notable constraint in Hitman 2, particularly at 4K. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus. This bandwidth is sufficient for 1440p gaming, as shown by the 76.8 FPS at High settings, but the 4K Ultra result of 31.7 FPS suggests the card is being saturated. The GPU’s 6144 shading units and 192 texture mapping units handle the game’s stealth environments well, but the pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are the metrics that matter most when resolution climbs.

The card’s 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present on the spec sheet, but Hitman 2 does not appear to leverage them heavily based on the measured data — the FPS differences between settings are more consistent with traditional rasterization load. The boost clock of 1770 MHz is not particularly aggressive, and the GPU’s 290 W TDP is high, but the benchmark results do not show thermal throttling as a factor. The passmark G3D score of 23356 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3478 place the card in the 74th percentile, which aligns with its mid-range-to-high-end positioning.

The GPU’s role becomes clearer when comparing settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, Low produces 207 FPS, but Medium drops to 155.1 FPS and High to 117.9 FPS. This 89.1 FPS gap between Low and High is substantial, indicating that the GPU is doing meaningful work even at 1080p. However, the jump from High to Ultra at 1080p only costs 30 FPS (117.9 to 87.9), suggesting diminishing returns on the highest preset. At 4K, the same comparison shows Low at 69.7 FPS and Ultra at 31.7 FPS, a 38 FPS difference that is proportionally larger relative to the lower baseline, confirming the GPU’s dominance at high pixel counts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i5-12600KF and RTX 3070 Ti produce excellent results across all presets. Low settings yield 207 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth and indicates that the CPU’s 10 cores are not a bottleneck here. Medium drops to 155.1 FPS, High to 117.9 FPS, and Ultra to 87.9 FPS. These numbers show a clear linear progression, with each preset tier costing roughly 30-50 FPS. The 1080p data suggests that users with 144 Hz monitors can comfortably use High settings, while those with 240 Hz displays may prefer Medium or Low to maximize frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops are significant but still playable. Low produces 132.5 FPS, Medium 99.6 FPS, High 76.8 FPS, and Ultra 57.5 FPS. The 1440p Low figure is still above 120 FPS, which is good for competitive play, but High and Ultra fall below the 100 FPS threshold. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 75 FPS, which is larger than the 119.1 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to strain as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low settings deliver 69.7 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS target, but Medium drops to 50.6 FPS, High to 40.1 FPS, and Ultra to 31.7 FPS. The 4K data shows that only Low settings can maintain a consistent 60+ FPS experience, and even that is not guaranteed for all scenes. The 40.1 FPS at High is playable for slower stealth gameplay but will feel choppy during action sequences. The 31.7 FPS at Ultra is borderline unplayable and would require significant settings tweaks to be viable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per core L2 cache provide ample data for game logic, and the 84th percentile ranking against all CPUs reflects its strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities. In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the 207 FPS at Low settings suggests the game is not CPU-limited. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and PassMark single-thread score of 3925 confirm that the processor can handle the game’s AI and physics computations without bottlenecking the GPU.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is also robust, with Cinebench R23 multicore scoring 23444 and Geekbench multicore at 12373. These scores indicate that the i5-12600KF can handle background tasks and streaming without affecting game performance, but the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K. The 0% delta compared to the Intel Core i9-10900K is particularly telling, as it means the older i9 does not offer any gaming advantage in this title. The 0.1% gap to the i5-12600K is negligible, and the 0.4% lead of the Core i7-13700H is within the margin of error.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node contribute to its efficiency, but the benchmark results do not show any thermal or power-related throttling. The passmark multithread score of 27575 and the data compression score of 343231 highlight its versatility, but for Hitman 2, the single-thread performance is what matters most. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1995 and 4-thread score of 3806 show that the processor scales well with thread count, but the game’s engine appears to favor the GPU heavily once resolution exceeds 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, High settings at 117.9 FPS offer the ideal balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, as Ultra only improves visuals marginally while dropping to 87.9 FPS. For users with high refresh rate monitors, Medium at 155.1 FPS is the better choice, as it provides a 37.2 FPS boost over High with a modest visual downgrade. Low at 207 FPS is overkill for most displays and should only be used for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, High settings at 76.8 FPS are the sweet spot for a 60-75 Hz monitor, but users with 144 Hz panels should consider Medium at 99.6 FPS. The drop from High to Medium is 22.8 FPS, which is significant, while the visual difference is less pronounced than the 19.3 FPS difference between High and Ultra. Low at 132.5 FPS is viable for esports-style play, but the visual quality suffers enough that it is not recommended for a stealth game where immersion matters.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 69.7 FPS are the only preset that maintains a 60+ FPS average, making it the default choice for 4K gaming. Medium at 50.6 FPS is playable for slower moments but will dip below 40 FPS in busy scenes, while High at 40.1 FPS and Ultra at 31.7 FPS are too inconsistent for a smooth experience. Users who prioritize visuals over frame rate may accept High at 4K, but the data clearly shows that Low is the only preset that delivers a consistently playable result. The 38 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K underscores the RTX 3070 Ti’s limitations at this resolution, and the 8 GB memory buffer is likely a contributing factor. For the best overall experience, 1440p High or Medium offers the most balanced performance, while 1080p High is the safest recommendation for those who want maximum stability.