Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT delivers a solid Hitman 2 experience, with measured performance ranging from a playable 35.4 FPS at 4K High to a fluid 110 FPS at 1080p High. The data indicates that the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium with a manageable performance cost, while avoiding the severe frame rate drops seen at Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly identifies High as the optimal settings preset for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 110 FPS, which is 24 FPS lower than Medium’s 146 FPS but provides substantially better visual fidelity. The trade-off becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions, where High maintains playable frame rates while Medium and Ultra become less attractive. At 2560x1440, High achieves 72.7 FPS, a smooth experience for a stealth title, whereas Ultra drops to 53.6 FPS. The most telling data point is at 3840x2160, where High produces 35.4 FPS—borderline playable—while Medium only manages 48.9 FPS and Ultra falls to 26.6 FPS. The performance gap between High and Ultra is substantial at every resolution: a 23% reduction at 1080p (110 to 84.6 FPS), 26% at 1440p (72.7 to 53.6 FPS), and 25% at 4K (35.4 to 26.6 FPS). This consistent drop suggests Ultra introduces rendering features that disproportionately tax the GPU without a commensurate visual benefit for most users. For players targeting 60 FPS, High is the only preset that delivers it at 1440p, and it comes close at 1080p with 110 FPS. Low settings are available for maximum frame rates—197.8 FPS at 1080p and 129.1 FPS at 1440p—but these numbers come at the cost of the game’s atmospheric lighting and shadow detail, which are central to the stealth genre’s tension. The measured data positions High as the sweet spot: it leverages the hardware’s capabilities without pushing into the diminishing returns of Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows strong multi-threaded performance, with a 3dmark_16_threads score of 7314 and a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 21279, placing it at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs. In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic, a task well within this processor’s capabilities. The single-thread performance, reflected in a 3dmark_single_thread score of 960 and a cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 3004, is more relevant for the game’s AI and physics calculations. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 197.8 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all configurations. This suggests that even at extreme frame rates, the CPU does not become a bottleneck—the 16 threads and 4.60 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing in crowded environments, a common scenario in Hitman 2’s sandbox levels. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25236 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13620H (25201, deltaPct 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, deltaPct -0.5). This parity indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game; the performance differences across resolutions are overwhelmingly driven by the GPU. The measured frame rates at 1080p High (110 FPS) versus 4K High (35.4 FPS) show a 68% drop, a scaling pattern that points to GPU-bound rendering rather than CPU limitations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is the primary driver of Hitman 2’s visual output, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s 3456 shading units and 96 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 2544 MHz, deliver a pixel rate of 244.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 549.5 GTexel/s. These specifications translate into a measured average benchmark score of 30097, placing it at the 73rd percentile among all GPUs. In Hitman 2, the GPU’s memory capacity and bandwidth are critical for handling the game’s detailed textures and large open environments. The jump from 12 GB of VRAM to the game’s High preset at 4K causes a significant performance hit—35.4 FPS—while the same preset at 1080p yields 110 FPS. This 3.1x difference in resolution results in a 68% frame rate reduction, highlighting the GPU’s fill-rate limits at higher pixel counts. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, has a nearly identical average score of 30109 (deltaPct 0), suggesting comparable raw performance. However, the RX 7700 XT’s 12 GB VRAM and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for Hitman 2’s texture streaming, as evidenced by the Medium preset’s 146 FPS at 1080p. The measured data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K, where even Low settings (68.3 FPS) cannot reach the 100 FPS territory achievable at 1440p Low (129.1 FPS). This pattern is consistent with a GPU that excels at mid-range resolutions but struggles with the pixel throughput required at 4K Ultra, which drops to 26.6 FPS. The GPU’s 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 3316 further confirms its DirectX 12 capability, which Hitman 2 leverages for its rendering pipeline.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 FPS target at 1440p?

A: The High preset delivers 72.7 FPS at 2560x1440, which is above the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset achieves 96.8 FPS, but High provides better visuals with a 25% performance reduction, making it the recommended choice for a balanced experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals in overall performance?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H (25201) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365). This places the CPU in a tightly competitive bracket where performance differences are negligible.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for the game’s textures, as the 4K High preset runs at 35.4 FPS without memory-related stuttering. The bottleneck at 4K is pixel fill-rate, not VRAM capacity, since Low settings at 4K reach 68.3 FPS.

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

A: The measured data shows 84.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is 23% lower than the High preset (110 FPS), indicating that Ultra’s additional effects have a measurable performance cost.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT has an average benchmark score of 30097, while the RTX 5060 scores 30109, a deltaPct of 0. In practical terms, the two GPUs deliver statistically identical raw performance for this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p High?

A: At 1080p High, the combo achieves 110 FPS, and the GPU’s percentile rank (73rd) is lower than the CPU’s (82nd). The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU’s single-thread score of 3004 provides sufficient headroom for the game’s logic.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At the High preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces the average frame rate from 110 FPS to 72.7 FPS, a 34% drop. Moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 further reduces it to 35.4 FPS, another 51% drop. The cumulative effect from 1080p to 4K is a 68% reduction in performance, which is consistent with the GPU’s pixel throughput limits. This scaling is more pronounced at higher settings: the Ultra preset drops from 84.6 FPS at 1080p to 53.6 FPS at 1440p (37% loss) and then to 26.6 FPS at 4K (50% loss). The Low preset shows a steeper relative decline, going from 197.8 FPS at 1080p to 129.1 FPS at 1440p (35% loss) and 68.3 FPS at 4K (47% loss), but the absolute frame rates remain high enough to mask the GPU limitation. The fact that the CPU’s performance (82nd percentile) is higher than the GPU’s (73rd percentile) reinforces that the RX 7700 XT is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, even the Medium preset (48.9 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold, while the High preset’s 35.4 FPS is only suitable for slower, more methodical play. The data suggests that the i5-13400F has ample headroom to push higher frame rates if paired with a stronger GPU, as the scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K is almost purely a function of pixel count and GPU fill-rate. Players seeking 4K performance should consider reducing settings to Low (68.3 FPS) or accepting High’s 35.4 FPS, while those at 1440p can comfortably use High (72.7 FPS) or even Ultra (53.6 FPS) for a more cinematic experience.