Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for this Hitman 2 configuration reveal a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 145.4 at 1080p to 91.1 at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 37%, before falling further to 51.5 at 4K. This progression indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, with the GPU's rendering workload scaling directly with pixel count.

The Low preset shows an even more dramatic scaling curve. At 1920x1080, the configuration produces 255.3 average FPS, which drops to 160.8 at 2560x1440 and then to 89.2 at 3840x2160. The fact that even at Low settings the 4K result remains below 90 FPS suggests that the GPU's raw throughput, rather than the CPU or memory subsystem, is the dominant constraint at this resolution. The 1080p Low result of 255.3 FPS demonstrates the GPU's ability to push extremely high frame rates when pixel count is low, but those gains diminish quickly as resolution climbs.

The Medium preset follows a similar pattern, with 193.4 FPS at 1080p, 122.9 at 1440p, and 63.3 at 4K. The Ultra preset, which represents the most demanding configuration, shows the steepest relative drop: 105.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 70.6 at 1440p and then to 34.7 at 4K. This 4K Ultra result is the only measured point that falls below 40 FPS, indicating that this combination cannot sustain a smooth 60 FPS experience at maximum settings in 4K.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings (145.4 to 91.1 FPS) represents a 37% performance loss, while the 1440p to 4K transition at the same preset (91.1 to 51.5 FPS) costs another 43%. This non-linear degradation is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where each doubling of pixel count imposes a roughly proportional increase in rendering load. The Intel Core i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, does not appear to bottleneck at any resolution, as even the highest frame rate measured (255.3 FPS at 1080p Low) remains well within the CPU's capability envelope.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, delivering 91.1 average FPS. This combination provides a substantial improvement over the Ultra preset's 70.6 FPS at the same resolution, while maintaining visual fidelity that is likely close to the maximum settings for most players. The 20 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p suggests that Ultra settings impose a significant rendering cost that may not translate into proportionally better visuals.

For 1920x1080 users, the Medium preset at 193.4 FPS represents the sweet spot, as it provides more than double the frame rate of Ultra (105.7 FPS) while retaining intermediate visual quality. The 1080p High result of 145.4 FPS is also excellent, but the gap between High and Medium (145.4 vs 193.4) is larger than the gap between Medium and Low (193.4 vs 255.3), suggesting diminishing returns beyond Medium for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the choice becomes more constrained. The High preset at 51.5 FPS is the only setting that approaches playable territory, though it falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 63.3 FPS actually provides a better frame rate than High, which is an unusual result in the data — this could indicate that the Medium preset disables certain GPU-intensive effects that disproportionately affect performance in Hitman 2's large, detailed environments. The Ultra preset at 34.7 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the frame rate drops below 35 FPS, which will feel sluggish in a stealth game that requires precise timing.

The Low preset at 4K (89.2 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU can handle this resolution when visual features are stripped back, but the visual compromise may be unacceptable for a game that relies on environmental detail for stealth mechanics. Overall, the data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1440p High or 1080p Medium/High, with 4K reserved for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this configuration in Hitman 2?

A: The measured data indicates that 2560x1440 at High settings provides the best balance, with 91.1 average FPS. This resolution avoids the steep performance penalty seen at 4K while offering substantially higher frame rates than the 51.5 FPS High result at 3840x2160.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 produces only 34.7 average FPS, which is below the generally accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Even the High preset at 4K (51.5 FPS) falls short, though Medium at 63.3 FPS is playable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, ranking in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, scores 25201, a delta of just 0.1%, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (0.5% ahead) and the AMD EPYC 9474F scores 25103 (0.5% behind).

Q: Is the GPU's benchmark performance competitive with similar cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 38358, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at 38349 (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (0.6% behind), indicating very close synthetic performance.

Q: Why does the 4K Medium preset (63.3 FPS) outperform 4K High (51.5 FPS) by such a large margin?

A: The 11.8 FPS difference between Medium and High at 4K suggests that the High preset enables additional visual effects that impose a significant load on the GPU. The data shows that this gap is proportionally larger at 4K than at 1440p (where the High/Medium difference is 31.8 FPS) or 1080p (48 FPS), indicating resolution-dependent rendering costs.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: This combination of Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 396th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations in the database.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves a rank of 396 out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it comfortably in the top quarter of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's strong synthetic benchmark performance (38358 average score, 82nd percentile) combined with a CPU that scores 25236 average (also 82nd percentile). The near-perfect alignment of both components' percentile rankings suggests a well-matched pairing.

The 396th position out of 1795 combos means that this configuration outperforms roughly 78% of all tested systems in this specific game. This is a solid result for a desktop setup, particularly given that the GPU is marked as end-of-life production status and the CPU is from the Core 13th Gen series. The ranking in Hitman 2 specifically — a stealth game with large, open-ended levels that can stress both CPU and GPU — indicates that the combo handles the game's unique rendering demands effectively.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7900 XT sits within 0.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, though those comparisons are from generic benchmark suites and not Hitman 2-specific results. The CPU's closest rival, the Intel Core i7-13620H, scores within 0.1% of the i5-13400F, suggesting that either processor would deliver nearly identical performance in this game.

The rank of 396 also implies that there are 1,399 tested combos that perform worse than this setup, which underscores the strength of the pairing. However, the 4K Ultra result of 34.7 FPS indicates that the combo does not reach the upper echelon of configurations that can max out Hitman 2 at the highest resolution and settings. The measured data shows that this combo is best positioned for 1440p gaming, where it delivers 91.1 FPS at High settings, and can handle 1080p at Ultra with 105.7 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, which totals 20 MB across all cores. This configuration supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel setup.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured frame rates, particularly the 255.3 FPS at 1080p Low, suggest that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. The 3DMark scores support this: the multi-threaded score of 7314 and the max-threads score of 7307 are nearly identical, indicating that the CPU scales well across its 10 cores. The single-thread score of 960 and the 2-thread score of 1880 show that the CPU also maintains strong per-core performance, which is critical for games that rely on a few heavily loaded threads.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 places this CPU in the 82nd percentile overall, while the single-core score of 3004 demonstrates consistent performance across workloads. In a game like Hitman 2, which features complex AI routines and physics calculations in its large sandbox levels, the 16 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks without impacting frame rates. The PassMark multi-thread score of 25032 and the physics score of 1437 further confirm that the CPU can handle the game's simulation load.

The boost clock of 4.60 GHz is particularly relevant for Hitman 2, as the game's engine benefits from high single-thread performance. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 302 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2301 indicate that the CPU's per-thread capability is sufficient for the game's most demanding single-threaded sections. The fact that the 1080p Low preset reaches 255.3 FPS without any apparent CPU limitation suggests that the i5-13400F has more than enough processing power for this title, even at the highest frame rates the GPU can produce.

The CPU's 10 nm process and 215 mm² die size are typical for a mid-range desktop part, and its position at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs puts it in the upper tier of processors available. When paired with the RX 7900 XT, the CPU's performance ensures that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, which is the expected behavior for a high-end graphics card in a resolution-bound scenario.