Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but demanding 1080p experience in Hitman 2, with performance scaling predictably across resolutions and settings. The combo ranks in the 2158th position out of 3711 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This pairing demonstrates a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom for the game's stealth mechanics.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, running on a 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, alongside a Geekbench multi-core score of 11268 and a single-core score of 2058.

Relative to its nearest rivals, the i5-14400F performs within a tight margin. It edges out the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U by 0.1%, the Intel Core i9-11900 by 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12800H by 0.5% in average benchmark score. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2%. This places the CPU in the 83rd percentile among all tested processors, indicating solid multi-threaded capability for its class.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo reaches 159 FPS, which is the highest figure across all tested rows. This suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower settings, as the frame rate is high enough to saturate most displays. The 16 threads and 10 cores provide ample parallelism for the game's AI and physics systems, though Hitman 2 is not particularly CPU-intensive compared to other titles in the stealth genre.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hitman 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 159, recorded at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 23, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 76 FPS average, while High settings yield 58 FPS average, a difference of 18 FPS.

Q: Does the combo provide a 60 FPS experience at 1080p High settings?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 90, well above the 60 FPS mark.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 35, observed at 3840x2160 with Medium settings.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance relate to the game's results?

A: The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055 indicates strong per-thread performance, which supports the high frame rates seen at 1080p Low settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2158 out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested systems. This position reflects a mid-tier standing, where the combination is neither at the top nor the bottom of the performance spectrum. The ranking suggests that while the hardware is capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p, it struggles to maintain high performance at 4K resolutions.

Comparing this rank to the individual component percentiles—the CPU at 83rd percentile and the GPU at 65th percentile—the combo's overall rank is lower than either component's standalone percentile. This discrepancy indicates that the pairing is not optimally balanced for Hitman 2, likely due to the GPU becoming a limiting factor at higher settings. The rank of 2158 also implies that a significant number of other combinations, potentially with higher-end GPUs, outperform this setup in the same game.

The data shows that at 1080p, the combo can achieve competitive frame rates, with the Ultra preset delivering 67 FPS average, which is respectable for a game released in 2018. However, the rank relative to other combos suggests that many systems with more powerful graphics cards would achieve higher scores at the same settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on settings. Low settings produce an average of 159 FPS, Medium yields 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 and maximum of 137, High achieves 90 FPS, and Ultra drops to 67 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, with Ultra delivering 58% of the FPS of Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales downward. Low settings average 102 FPS, Medium averages 76 FPS with a min/max of 65/88, High averages 58 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a roughly 36% reduction in FPS at Low settings, and a 36% reduction at Ultra settings as well.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become marginal for smooth gameplay. Low settings average 54 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure of 23 FPS indicates that this resolution and preset combination is not viable for a playable experience, while 4K Low approaches acceptable performance at 54 FPS.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the only rows with minimum and maximum FPS data, showing a consistent pattern: at 1080p the range is 102-137, at 1440p it is 65-88, and at 4K it is 35-47. This data suggests that the Medium preset offers the most stable frame pacing relative to the other settings, where only averages are recorded.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are steep and consistent across settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 159 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p (a 36% drop), and then to 54 at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). At Ultra settings, the progression is from 67 at 1080p to 43 at 1440p (a 36% drop), and then to 23 at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p).

This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the limiting component as resolution increases. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the demand for texture memory and fill rate grows. The GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K, as evidenced by the sub-60 FPS averages at all settings.

Conversely, the CPU's performance does not appear to degrade with resolution, as the processor's workload remains relatively constant regardless of pixel count. The fact that the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is nearly identical (36%) across Low and Ultra settings suggests that the GPU is being saturated in both cases, rather than the CPU becoming a factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the percentage drop would likely be smaller at higher settings where the GPU is busier.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth experience at 1920x1080, the High preset offers the best balance, delivering 90 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset at 67 FPS is also playable, but the 23 FPS improvement from High to Ultra does not justify the performance cost for most users. At Medium settings, the 120 FPS average provides headroom for high-refresh-rate displays, though the visual quality reduction may be noticeable.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, with an average of 76 FPS and a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring that the frame rate stays above 60 FPS in most scenes. The High preset at 58 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for a consistent experience. Low settings at 102 FPS are viable for competitive play, but sacrifice too much visual fidelity for typical stealth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the only acceptable option is the Low preset, which averages 54 FPS. The Medium preset at 41 FPS is below the 60 FPS standard, and High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 23 FPS are unplayable for a game that requires precision and reaction time. For 4K users, reducing to 1440p Medium is a more practical choice, as it doubles the frame rate from 41 to 76 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process from TSMC, with a die size of 545 mm² containing 13,600 million transistors. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at an effective speed of 14 Gbps. The memory interface is 256-bit, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU includes 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, along with 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, but at 4K Ultra, the memory and bandwidth constraints become apparent. The GPU's texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s are modest by modern standards, which limits performance at high resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 20282. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (1% slower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (1.2% slower), Intel Arc B570 (1.3% slower), and Intel Arc A750 (1.5% slower). These close margins indicate that the RTX 2070 SUPER is competitive with mid-range GPUs from both the previous and current generations, though it trails newer high-end parts.

The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the primary performance limiter in this combo. At 1080p Low, the 159 FPS average suggests that the GPU is still capable of high output, but the steep decline to 23 FPS at 4K Ultra shows its limitations. The GPU's DirectX 12 benchmark score of 67 and Vulkan score of 90637 indicate that it can handle the API requirements of Hitman 2, but the raw compute power is insufficient for 4K gaming at high settings.