Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 pairing delivers a dominant performance in Hitman 2, ranking in the top 5% of all tested combinations. The data shows that this setup is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while at 1080p the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for exceptionally high frame rates, making this a versatile combo for both competitive and high-fidelity play.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Hitman 2?

A: This pairing ranks 82nd out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.6% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 60.5 FPS, which is playable. For a smoother experience, dropping to Medium settings raises the average to 81.8 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high-refresh-rate monitors?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the system produces 115 FPS on average. For maximum refresh rates, 1920x1080 with High settings delivers 184.5 FPS, and Low settings push that to 321.7 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9474F, while sitting 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D.

Q: How does the GPU benchmark compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5080's average score of 59188 places it 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A570M and 2.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A580, while being 1.9% behind the Intel Arc Pro A60.

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

A: The gap is substantial. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings yield 135.6 FPS on average, while Low settings produce 321.7 FPS, representing a significant 186.1 FPS increase for competitive play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is built on the Raptor Lake architecture, featuring 10 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz can boost up to 4.60 GHz, providing strong single-thread performance that is crucial for Hitman 2's game logic and AI systems. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows balanced scaling. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 is nearly identical to the max-thread score of 7307, indicating that the processor's performance is consistent when all cores are utilized. Single-thread performance, measured at 960 in 3DMark, is strong and ensures that the game's primary simulation thread does not become a bottleneck.

The relationship between CPU and GPU becomes clear when examining the frame rates. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system hits 321.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game. This is supported by the fact that the CPU's 16 threads are more than sufficient for Hitman 2's workload, as evidenced by the high multi-threaded scores in Cinebench R23 (21279) and Passmark (25032). The processor's 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that it is a high-end part capable of feeding even the fastest GPUs at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock of 2617 MHz and 10752 shading units allow it to process Hitman 2's complex lighting and shadow effects with ease. Its architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which the game can leverage for enhanced visual fidelity.

The GPU's performance is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 47.5 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This indicates that the RTX 5080 is being fully utilized at 4K, while the CPU has plenty of headroom. The GPU's 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs shows it is a top-tier part, but Hitman 2's demanding Ultra preset at 4K still pushes it to its limits.

The memory subsystem is particularly important at high resolutions. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Hitman 2's textures at 4K, preventing any potential stuttering from memory swapping. The high memory bandwidth ensures that the GPU can quickly access texture data, which is reflected in the smooth scaling from 110.6 FPS at 4K Low to 81.8 FPS at 4K Medium.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the recommended configuration, delivering 115 FPS on average. This provides a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors while maintaining detailed environments. At 4K, the High preset is the only viable option for 60 FPS gameplay, achieving exactly 60.5 FPS on average.

If maximizing visual fidelity is the priority, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 is playable at 135.6 FPS, but the visual jump from High to Ultra at this resolution may not justify the 48.9 FPS loss. For competitive play, the Low preset at 1080p offers the highest possible frame rate at 321.7 FPS, ensuring minimal input lag.

The Medium preset is a strong middle ground at 1440p, yielding 154.7 FPS, which is a significant improvement over High while still looking substantially better than Low. At 4K, Medium is the best choice for those seeking higher frame rates than High, as it produces 81.8 FPS, a 21.3 FPS improvement over the High preset.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo's rank of 82 out of 1795 tested combinations places it in the top 4.6% of all systems benchmarked for Hitman 2. This high ranking is driven by the exceptional performance of the RTX 5080, which is in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. The CPU, while not as highly ranked at the 82nd percentile, provides more than enough throughput to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios.

The data indicates that this pairing is particularly well-suited for high-resolution gaming. At 1440p, the combo delivers over 100 FPS on High settings, which is a threshold many systems struggle to reach. The gap between this combo and lower-ranked configurations is most pronounced at 4K, where the RTX 5080's 16 GB VRAM and high bandwidth allow for playable frame rates that many other GPUs cannot achieve.

The rank also reflects the balance of the pairing. A less powerful GPU would likely bring the 1080p frame rates down, while a more powerful GPU would be wasted at 1080p given the CPU's limits. This system is optimized for the sweet spot of 1440p high-refresh-rate gaming, with 4K capability as a bonus.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 321.7 FPS, Medium produces 237.9 FPS, High produces 184.5 FPS, and Ultra produces 135.6 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low represents a 137.2% increase in performance, showing that the game is not heavily GPU-bound at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU's increasing load. Low settings average 203.1 FPS, Medium averages 154.7 FPS, High averages 115 FPS, and Ultra drops to 85.1 FPS. The relative performance gap between settings widens slightly, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a factor.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the dominant component. Low settings average 110.6 FPS, Medium averages 81.8 FPS, High averages 60.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 47.5 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial and reveal the system's bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 184.5 at 1080p to 115 at 1440p, a 37.7% reduction, and further to 60.5 at 4K, a 67.2% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5080 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 1080p.

The data confirms this analysis by examining the Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 321.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum throughput. When moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 203.1, a 36.9% reduction, and at 4K Low it falls to 110.6, a 65.6% reduction from 1080p. This consistent scaling pattern across settings suggests that the GPU's workload increases proportionally with resolution, while the CPU's frame generation capability remains constant.

The limiting component is definitively the GPU at 4K, as evidenced by the fact that the 4K Low setting (110.6 FPS) is still lower than the 1080p Ultra setting (135.6 FPS). This shows that even at the lowest graphical settings, the GPU cannot match the frame rates achievable at 1080p with higher settings, confirming that the RTX 5080 is the primary constraint at 4K resolution.