Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second across the three resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling curve for Hitman 2, though with a notable inflection at the highest preset. At 1080p High, the combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 produces 105.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 66.3 FPS, a reduction of roughly 37%. Pushing to 4K High yields 36.1 FPS, another 46% decline from the 1440p figure. This steep degradation pattern is the signature of a system where the graphics card is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The Low preset tells a different story, one that exposes the CPU's headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 179.6 FPS. At 1440p Low, it still holds 118.7 FPS. But at 4K Low, the frame rate collapses to 60.6 FPS. The 4K-to-1440p ratio at Low settings is 0.51, meaning the 4K result is roughly half of the 1440p result. Compare that to the High preset, where the 4K result is 0.54 of the 1440p result. The similarity in these ratios across presets indicates that resolution scaling is consistent and heavily pixel-bound, not setting-bound.

What this data suggests is that the RTX 5060's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, are adequate for 1080p and 1440p but become the bottleneck at 3840x2160. The 4K Ultra result of 27.9 FPS is the clearest evidence: it is the lowest score in the entire measured set, and it falls below the 30 FPS playability threshold. The gap between 4K Low (60.6 FPS) and 4K High (36.1 FPS) is 24.5 FPS, while the gap between 1080p Low (179.6 FPS) and 1080p High (105.8 FPS) is 73.8 FPS. The shrinking absolute deltas at 4K confirm that the GPU is saturated regardless of preset, making resolution the dominant variable.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting a smooth experience, the data points to Medium as the optimal preset at 1440p and 4K, while High serves best at 1080p. At 1920x1080, High delivers 105.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and only 27.7 FPS below the Low preset's 179.6 FPS. The visual fidelity gain from Low to High is substantial in Hitman 2's detailed environments, and the performance cost is acceptable at this resolution. Ultra at 1080p drops to 78.8 FPS, still playable but a 27 FPS penalty over High for marginal visual improvements.

At 2560x1440, Medium produces 89.6 FPS, which is the best balance in the measured set. High at 1440p falls to 66.3 FPS, still smooth but leaving less headroom for demanding scenes. Ultra at 1440p drops to 49.6 FPS, which is borderline for fast-paced stealth gameplay. The Medium preset at 1440p is 23.3 FPS faster than High and 40 FPS faster than Ultra, making it the clear recommendation for this resolution.

For 3840x2160, the choice is constrained. Low yields 60.6 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that clears the 60 FPS bar. Medium produces 47.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. High and Ultra fall to 36.1 and 27.9 FPS respectively, with the latter being below acceptable playability. Given that 4K Low is 13 FPS faster than Medium and 24.5 FPS faster than High, players on 4K displays should accept the Low preset for consistent performance. The data does not support Ultra at any resolution as a sensible choice: at 1080p it is 27 FPS slower than High, at 1440p it is 40 FPS slower than Medium, and at 4K it is the only preset to dip below 30 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hitman 2 at 4K with acceptable performance?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 60.6 FPS. Medium at 4K drops to 47.6 FPS, High to 36.1 FPS, and Ultra falls below playability at 27.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium is the strongest choice, delivering 89.6 FPS. This is 23.3 FPS higher than High and 40 FPS higher than Ultra, with the visual difference between Medium and High being less impactful than the frame rate gap.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: The frame rate drops from 105.8 FPS at 1080p to 66.3 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 39.5 FPS or approximately 37%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 179.6 FPS, showing the i5-12600KF can feed the RTX 5060 well. The steep drops at 4K across all presets confirm GPU saturation.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average is 78.8 FPS. This is playable, but it is 27 FPS slower than the High preset at the same resolution, making High the better value in terms of performance per visual increment.

Q: How does the RTX 5060's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p across all presets, but at 4K the card cannot maintain high frame rates even at Medium (47.6 FPS), indicating memory bandwidth or capacity constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full preset ladder shows a clear hierarchy. Low leads with 179.6 FPS, followed by Medium at 133.5 FPS, High at 105.8 FPS, and Ultra trailing at 78.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 100.8 FPS, demonstrating that settings have a massive impact at this resolution. The step from Low to Medium costs 46.1 FPS, from Medium to High costs 27.7 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS. The diminishing returns are evident: the jump from Low to Medium is the most expensive in absolute terms.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds with compressed numbers. Low produces 118.7 FPS, Medium 89.6 FPS, High 66.3 FPS, and Ultra 49.6 FPS. The total spread is 69.1 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, confirming the GPU is starting to limit performance. The cost of moving from Low to Medium is 29.1 FPS, from Medium to High is 23.3 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 16.7 FPS. The increments shrink as settings rise, a classic sign of rendering overhead becoming less significant relative to pixel throughput.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress further. Low achieves 60.6 FPS, Medium 47.6 FPS, High 36.1 FPS, and Ultra 27.9 FPS. The total spread is just 32.7 FPS, less than a third of the 1080p spread. This compression is the strongest evidence of GPU saturation. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is smaller than the difference between Low and Medium at 1080p, meaning that at 4K the card is so pixel-bound that preset changes have limited impact on the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the decisive component in this pairing for Hitman 2. Its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and the benchmark results show this is the ceiling for performance. The card's boost clock of 2497 MHz and base clock of 2280 MHz, combined with 3840 shading units, deliver 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. These specifications translate into the measured results: strong 1080p performance, acceptable 1440p performance, and limited 4K capability.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all GPUs places it in the upper quarter, and its average benchmark score of 30109 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30097 (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile at 29928 (0.6% delta). In Hitman 2 specifically, the RTX 5060's performance at 1080p High (105.8 FPS) shows it can handle the game's stealth mechanics and crowd rendering with ease. The 4K results, however, reveal the limitation: even at Low settings, the card cannot exceed 60.6 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 27.9 FPS.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is worth examining against the game's release date of 2018-11-12. Hitman 2's textures and draw distances are demanding, but the data shows the card is not VRAM-limited at 1080p or 1440p, where even Ultra presets produce playable frame rates. At 4K, the combination of higher memory pressure and bandwidth demands overwhelms the card. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is the likely culprit, as the 128-bit bus is narrow for 4K workloads. The GPU's passmark G3D score of 20891 and passmark GPU compute score of 10899 corroborate the general-purpose performance, but the game-specific data is the more reliable indicator for Hitman 2.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF provides ample processing headroom for this GPU in Hitman 2. With 10 cores and 16 threads, a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and a base clock of 3.70 GHz, this Alder Lake-S chip is not the bottleneck in any measured configuration. The evidence is in the 1080p Low result of 179.6 FPS, which is likely near the upper limit of what Hitman 2's engine can produce on this platform. If the CPU were limiting, the 1080p Low frame rate would be closer to the 1440p Low figure, but instead there is a 60.9 FPS gap between them, indicating the GPU is still the constraint even at low settings.

The CPU's benchmark scores support this interpretation. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23444 and single-core score of 3309 are strong figures, and the 3DMark max threads score of 7952 shows robust multi-threaded performance. The CPU's percentile ranking of 84 against all CPUs places it well above the GPU's 73rd percentile, meaning the processor is relatively stronger. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27829 average score (0% delta), and the Core i5-12600K at 27851 (-0.1% delta), confirming the i5-12600KF is a high-performing part in its class.

In gameplay terms, the 10-core, 16-thread configuration handles Hitman 2's AI and physics simulation without issue. The game's stealth mechanics require responsive frame pacing, and the measured 179.6 FPS at 1080p Low indicates the CPU can deliver frames as fast as the GPU can render them. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support provide adequate data throughput for the game's level streaming. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are not performance factors in this analysis, but the architecture's efficiency is evident in the consistent frame delivery across all tested configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Hitman 2, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 852nd out of 1795 combos. This places it in the 47.5th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms roughly half of the configurations in the database but trails the top half. Given that both components are mid-range to upper-mid-range parts, this ranking is consistent with expectations. The CPU sits at the 84th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU at the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, so the combined rank is dragged down by the GPU's relatively lower standing.

The rank of 852 out of 1795 indicates that there are many faster combinations, likely pairing higher-end GPUs with similar or better CPUs. However, the data also shows that this combo handles 1080p and 1440p gaming admirably, with only 4K Ultra falling below playable thresholds. The 1080p High result of 105.8 FPS and 1440p Medium result of 89.6 FPS are strong scores that would satisfy most players. The 4K Low result of 60.6 FPS is also respectable for a card in this class.

The ranking should be interpreted with the understanding that Hitman 2 is not a particularly demanding game by modern standards, given its 2018 release date. The combo's mid-pack ranking reflects the RTX 5060's position relative to the broader GPU market, not a deficiency in this specific game. Players with 1080p or 1440p monitors will find this to be a capable system, while those demanding 4K Ultra will need to look higher in the rankings. The 852nd position out of 1795 is a fair representation of a balanced mid-range build that excels at mainstream resolutions but cannot compete with flagship configurations at extreme settings.