Hitman 2

Intel Core i5-14400F pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti to produce a strong Hitman 2 experience, with measured frame rates ranging from 279.3 FPS at 1080p Low to 43 FPS at 4K Ultra. The processor, a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake part with a 2.50 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clock, holds a 88th percentile ranking against all CPUs, while the GPU, an Ada Lovelace design with a 2310 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost clock, sits at the 85th percentile against all GPUs. This combination ranks 210th out of 1795 tested combos in this title, placing it in the top 12% of all configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F brings a 10-core, 16-thread configuration to Hitman 2, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz that drives single-threaded performance. In synthetic workloads, the processor scores 3093 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 21914 in multi-core, indicating strong per-thread capability that stealth-game AI and physics calculations benefit from. The 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing in crowded environments, where Hitman 2’s simulation of NPC routines can become demanding.

Benchmark data shows the i5-14400F is virtually tied with several rivals: it matches the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta), sits 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, and trails the AMD Ryzen 7 250 by 0.2%. This near-parity means that in CPU-bound scenarios, Hitman 2 frame rates will be effectively identical across these processors, making the GPU the primary differentiator. The processor’s Passmark single-thread score of 3723 and multithread score of 25783 confirm balanced performance that avoids bottlenecking the RTX 4070 Ti at most settings, though at 1080p Low the CPU’s role becomes more prominent as frame rates climb toward 279.3 FPS.

Given the game’s 2018 release, the i5-14400F’s modern architecture provides ample headroom. The data shows that at 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 205.4 FPS, and at 1080p High, 160.7 FPS, suggesting that even at lower settings the processor maintains sufficient throughput. The 65 W TDP and DDR4/DDR5 memory support indicate a flexible platform that can sustain long gaming sessions without thermal throttling, which is relevant for Hitman 2’s sandbox levels where CPU load can spike during large crowd simulations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows reveal a clear performance hierarchy that dictates the optimal preset for different display targets. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers 117 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, while High achieves 160.7 FPS and Medium reaches 205.4 FPS. For players with 144Hz displays, the High preset at 1080p is the balanced choice: it provides 160.7 FPS, comfortably exceeding refresh rate demands, while the jump to Ultra costs 43.7 FPS (a 27% reduction) for marginal visual gains in a stealth game where motion clarity matters less than environmental detail.

At 1440p, the data shows High at 102.6 FPS, which is ideal for 100Hz+ monitors, while Medium achieves 135.7 FPS for higher-refresh panels. The Ultra preset drops to 74.4 FPS, still playable but with a 28.2 FPS penalty versus High. Given that Hitman 2 is a slower-paced stealth title, the visual fidelity of Ultra at 1440p may be preferable to the extra frames, but High represents the best compromise between image quality and performance. For 4K, the situation changes dramatically: High produces 52.3 FPS, Medium 70.6 FPS, and Ultra just 43 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the recommended starting point, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering improved fidelity over Low, which hits 98.1 FPS but likely sacrifices too much detail for a game that rewards observation.

The data indicates that High is the sweet spot for 1080p and 1440p, while Medium is the pragmatic choice for 4K. Players prioritizing maximum frame rates should note that Low at 1440p yields 175.3 FPS, but the visual downgrade in a game about spotting environmental details is counterproductive. The measured rows show no min FPS data, but the averages suggest consistent performance across all presets.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU as the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, with the CPU’s influence diminishing as resolution increases. At High settings, the combo delivers 160.7 FPS at 1080p, 102.6 FPS at 1440p, and 52.3 FPS at 4K — a drop of 36% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 49% from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti’s rendering workload scales heavily with pixel count, while the i5-14400F maintains sufficient CPU throughput.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more pronounced: 279.3 FPS at 1080p, 175.3 FPS at 1440p, and 98.1 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Low result suggests the CPU is nearing its limit at this setting, as frame rates approach what the processor can feed, but the 4K Low figure of 98.1 FPS still demonstrates strong GPU headroom. The Ultra preset shows the most extreme resolution penalty: 117 FPS at 1080p, 74.4 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K, with the 4K figure being the only measured result below 50 FPS.

This pattern confirms that Hitman 2 is heavily GPU-bound at 4K across all presets, while at 1080p Low the CPU becomes more relevant. The 12 GB GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth of the RTX 4070 Ti are sufficient for 4K textures, but the 192-bit bus width and 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 throughput limit raw pixel pushing. The data shows that resolution scaling is not linear — the jump from 1440p to 4K on High costs 50.3 FPS, which is nearly double the 58.1 FPS cost of the 1080p to 1440p step, underscoring the exponential cost of 4K rendering.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 60 FPS gameplay at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 102.6 FPS, while Medium reaches 135.7 FPS and Ultra drops to 74.4 FPS. All three exceed 60 FPS, but High offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for standard 60Hz displays.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the combo delivers 70.6 FPS, which is playable, while High drops to 52.3 FPS and Ultra to 43 FPS. For smooth 4K gameplay, Medium is the recommended preset, as Low provides 98.1 FPS but sacrifices visual detail.

Q: How does the i5-14400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-14400F is statistically tied with the Intel Core i7-12800H (0% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2% faster), and trails the AMD Ryzen 7 250 by only 0.2% in average benchmark scores. This means CPU-bound performance in Hitman 2 will be nearly identical across these processors.

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

A: At 1920x1080, Low achieves 279.3 FPS, while Ultra delivers 117 FPS — a difference of 162.3 FPS. The High preset at 160.7 FPS and Medium at 205.4 FPS sit between these extremes, showing that preset choice has a massive impact on frame rates.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti better suited for high refresh rate or high resolution?

A: The data shows the RTX 4070 Ti excels at high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, with 175.3 FPS at 1440p Low and 160.7 FPS at 1080p High. At 4K, it struggles to maintain 60 FPS on Ultra (43 FPS) but manages 70.6 FPS on Medium, indicating it is a high-refresh card first and a 4K card second.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This Intel Core i5-14400F and RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 210th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 11.7% of all configurations tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, built on the AD104 chip with 7680 shading units and 60 RT cores, is the dominant factor in Hitman 2’s performance at higher resolutions. Its 2310 MHz base and 2610 MHz boost clocks, combined with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, provide 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth — sufficient for the game’s detailed environments. The GPU’s 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate drive the measured frame rates, with the Passmark G3D score of 31624 confirming its position at the 85th percentile of all GPUs.

The benchmark data shows the RTX 4070 Ti is closely matched with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (0.6% slower) and Intel Arc A730M (1.5% slower), while outperforming the AMD Radeon Pro 580 by 1.6% and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT by 1.6% in average scores. This near-parity with the RTX 5090 Mobile is notable, as the latter is a newer generation part, but the 4070 Ti’s 285 W TDP and dual-slot design allow sustained performance in desktop scenarios.

The GPU’s role becomes clear when examining resolution scaling: at 1080p High, the combo achieves 160.7 FPS, but at 4K High it drops to 52.3 FPS — a 67% reduction that aligns with the 4x pixel count increase. The 12 GB VRAM is adequate for Hitman 2’s textures at 4K, as evidenced by the 43 FPS Ultra result, which suggests the frame rate is limited by compute and memory bandwidth rather than capacity. The 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate and 80 ROPs ensure that draw calls and pixel fill rates remain stable, though the 192-bit memory bus is a potential bottleneck at 4K Ultra where the game’s highest-quality assets demand more bandwidth.