Hitman 2

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 lands at rank 1272 out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places the pairing in the lower-middle tier of the database, which is a reasonable outcome given the hardware's respective positions in their own performance hierarchies. The CPU sits in the 88th percentile against all processors, while the GPU trails significantly at the 63rd percentile against all graphics cards. The data suggests this combo is held back more by the graphics side than the processing side, an imbalance that becomes clearer when analyzing the measured frame rates across different resolutions and settings.

The ranking itself tells a story of a system that can deliver playable experiences at mainstream resolutions but struggles when pushed toward the higher end of the spectrum. With 1795 total combos tracked, being at position 1272 means roughly 70% of tested configurations outperform this pairing in Hitman 2. That is not a damning verdict for a mid-range setup, but it does indicate that users should set expectations accordingly. The CPU's strong standing among all processors—88th percentile—contrasts sharply with the GPU's 63rd percentile, and in a game like Hitman 2, that gap tends to manifest as GPU-bound bottlenecks at higher settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its clock speeds are substantial: a base of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2250 MHz, and a boost of 2655 MHz. These figures matter in Hitman 2 because the game's crowd scenes and reflective surfaces place heavy demands on memory throughput and shader work. The GPU's 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output processors provide the raw compute needed for those effects, and the 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 rating gives a sense of the theoretical ceiling.

In practice, the benchmark results show that the RX 7600 is the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Ultra, the combo produces 62.6 FPS, which is playable but far from the high refresh rates that the CPU alone could likely support. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking against all GPUs reinforces this interpretation. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for Hitman 2 at most settings, but the memory bus width of 128 bits restricts bandwidth relative to wider-memory competitors. The data does not show VRAM exhaustion at any tested setting, so the constraint appears to be raw compute rather than capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS numbers reveal a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 145.3 FPS, which drops to 96.7 FPS at 1440p Low, and further to 50.3 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 65% reduction from 1080p to 4K—all at the same Low preset. The pattern holds across other settings, but the magnitude of the drop grows with higher presets. At Ultra, the combo goes from 62.6 FPS at 1080p to 36.4 FPS at 1440p (a 42% drop) and then to 22.4 FPS at 4K (a 64% drop from 1080p).

This scaling behavior points to a GPU-bound system. When the resolution increases, the frame rate falls roughly in line with the increase in pixel count, which is the hallmark of a graphics-limited scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions because the processor would be doing the same amount of work regardless of pixel output. The data shows no such flatness. The 1080p to 1440p transition is particularly telling: at Low settings, the FPS drops from 145.3 to 96.7, which is a larger proportional decrease than the pixel count increase alone would predict, suggesting that even at Low settings the GPU is working hard to maintain those frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the most comfortable experience, with all settings except Ultra delivering over 80 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium settings exceed 60 FPS, while 4K fails to reach 60 FPS at any setting.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F scores 32508 on average, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-12800H at 32513 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% ahead). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H by 0.2%.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this pairing?

A: Yes. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking against all GPUs is significantly lower than the CPU's 88th percentile. The FPS scaling across resolutions—dropping 65% from 1080p to 4K at Low settings—confirms a GPU-bound system.

Q: What is the GPU's performance relative to its closest competitors?

A: The RX 7600 scores 20258 on average. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 20146 (0.6% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 460 scores 20088 (0.8% behind), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile and Intel Arc B570 outperform it by 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

Q: Does the combo handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Ultra, it produces 62.6 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 36.4 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 22.4 FPS. The data indicates that Ultra is only viable at 1080p.

Q: How does the GPU's memory configuration affect performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Hitman 2, this appears sufficient for the tested settings since no VRAM-related stutters are indicated in the FPS data, though the narrow bus limits overall memory throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 145.3 FPS, Medium drops to 110.1 FPS, High comes in at 81.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 62.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 82.7 FPS, showing a steep cost for graphical fidelity but still maintaining playable frame rates across the board.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers fall noticeably. Low settings yield 96.7 FPS, Medium provides 68.5 FPS, High drops to 54.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 36.4 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 34% of performance at Low settings, 38% at Medium, 33% at High, and 42% at Ultra. At this resolution, only Low and Medium clear the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. Low settings produce 50.3 FPS, Medium drops to 35.2 FPS, High falls to 25.4 FPS, and Ultra manages only 22.4 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS target, and even the Low preset struggles to maintain a smooth experience. The 4K data confirms that this resolution is not practical for this combo in Hitman 2, regardless of settings.

The overall pattern is consistent: each step down in settings provides a meaningful FPS boost, but the gains shrink as resolution increases. At 1080p, dropping from Ultra to Low nearly doubles the frame rate (62.6 to 145.3). At 4K, the same settings change yields just over double (22.4 to 50.3), but the absolute numbers remain too low for comfortable play.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong: 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 3093 in single-core, and 25783 in Passmark multi-thread. It sits in the 88th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic, AI, and physics. The data shows that the i5-14400F is more than capable of this task, as evidenced by the fact that FPS scales dramatically with resolution changes. If the CPU were struggling, the 1080p Low result of 145.3 FPS would not be achievable, nor would the 1440p Low result of 96.7 FPS. The processor's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom for Hitman 2's multi-threaded workload, and the 4.70 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-thread performance for the game's main thread.

The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.2% of its average score, indicating that this is a well-balanced mid-range processor. Its 88th percentile ranking means it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs in the database, which is why the combo's overall rank of 1272 out of 1795 is dragged down almost entirely by the GPU. The processor is not the bottleneck in this system.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo in Hitman 2 is at 1080p with High settings, which delivers 81.3 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience while maintaining enough visual quality to appreciate the game's detailed environments. The jump from High to Ultra costs 18.7 FPS (81.3 to 62.6), a 23% reduction for what is often a marginal visual improvement in this title.

For users prioritizing frame rate over visuals, 1080p Medium at 110.1 FPS is the sweet spot. It offers a substantial 35% improvement over High while still looking significantly better than Low. The Low preset at 145.3 FPS is only recommended for competitive play or if the user has a high refresh rate monitor, as the visual sacrifices are considerable.

At 1440p, the data supports Medium settings (68.5 FPS) as the best balance, though High at 54.6 FPS is acceptable for users who prefer visual fidelity over smoothness. Ultra at 1440p (36.4 FPS) is not recommended due to the sub-40 FPS average. At 4K, no setting provides a consistently playable experience, with Low at 50.3 FPS being the only option that approaches acceptability, but even that falls short of the 60 FPS target.

For most users, the verdict is clear: run Hitman 2 at 1080p with High or Medium settings, and reserve 1440p for Medium or High if the system is connected to a 1440p display. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for these configurations, and the CPU will not be a limiting factor at any of these settings.