Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 2nd out of 3,711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 0.05% of all systems evaluated. This is an exceptional result that puts the combo in elite territory, trailing only a single other configuration in the entire database. The data shows that this pairing delivers top-tier performance in this stealth title, with the RTX 4080 SUPER providing the overwhelming majority of the rendering muscle while the i5-14400F keeps pace without becoming a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2 out of 3,711 tested combinations reflects near-perfect optimization for Hitman 2’s engine. The RTX 4080 SUPER sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54,209, while the i5-14400F lands at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs with an average score of 32,279. Together, they form a pairing that outperforms 99.95% of all systems in the database, a remarkable feat given the game’s 2018 release date.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores help contextualize its dominance. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, which is 0.1% behind the standard RTX 4080 (54,247) and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828). The delta to the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698) is 2.7%, and the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757) is 2.8% ahead. These small percentage differences show that the SUPER variant is essentially a tuned version of the original 4080, with the data indicating no meaningful advantage for either card in this game.

On the CPU side, the i5-14400F’s average score of 32,279 places it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-11900 (32,226) and 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32,233). The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32,354) is 0.2% ahead, while the Intel Core i7-12800H (32,121) trails by 0.5%. These near-identical scores indicate that for Hitman 2, the i5-14400F delivers performance on par with older flagship mobile and desktop chips, proving that its 10-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for this workload.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this combo, and its specifications explain why. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Hitman 2’s detailed environments and crowd scenes. The memory clock runs at 1,438 MHz (23 Gbps effective), while the base clock of 2,295 MHz boosts to 2,550 MHz. These clocks are high enough to push the card’s 10,240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs to their limits.

The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The card’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for Hitman 2, which does not use ray tracing or DLSS in these measured rows, but the raw rasterization power is substantial: 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s. These figures translate directly into the frame rates seen in the measured data, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its standing. Its Passmark G3D score of 34,245 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 are strong, but the OpenCL score of 219,065 and Vulkan score of 260,075 show where the card excels in compute-heavy scenarios. For Hitman 2 specifically, the data shows that the card is capable of 286 FPS average at 1080p Low settings, which is far beyond what any display can show, indicating that the GPU is never the bottleneck at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This Raptor Lake-R architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process, includes 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, which gives system builders flexibility, though the measured FPS data does not differentiate between memory types.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data shows it does so without issue. The i5-14400F’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21,645 and single-core score of 3,055 indicate strong per-thread performance, which is critical for a game that still relies heavily on a few main threads. The Geekbench scores of 11,268 multi-core and 2,058 single-core confirm this, while the Passmark single-thread score of 3,701 shows the CPU can handle the game’s physics and AI calculations efficiently.

The CPU’s percentile ranking of 83rd among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32,279, places it just behind the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS and ahead of the Intel Core i7-12800H. In practical terms, this means the i5-14400F provides enough headroom that even at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the CPU does not become a limiting factor. The data shows no evidence of CPU-bound behavior at any resolution, as frame rates scale consistently with GPU load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers exceptional frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 286 FPS, while Medium averages 257 FPS (with a minimum of 218 FPS and maximum of 296 FPS). High settings drop to 214 FPS average, and Ultra still manages 166 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is almost certainly GPU-bound at Ultra but CPU-bound at Low, where the frame rate exceeds what the game engine can realistically demand.

Moving to 1440p, the results show a predictable decline. Low settings average 246 FPS, Medium averages 220 FPS (minimum 187, maximum 253), High drops to 143 FPS, and Ultra falls to 105 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is just 26 FPS, compared to 29 FPS at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is starting to take on more load but still has plenty of headroom. The minimum frame rates at Medium (187 FPS) remain well above 144 Hz, making this a strong option for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings average 161 FPS, which is still excellent, but Medium drops to 120 FPS (minimum 102, maximum 137). High settings average just 75 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55 FPS. This is the first resolution where the GPU’s limits become apparent, with the difference between Low and Medium (41 FPS) and Medium to High (45 FPS) being substantial. The minimum frame rate at Medium (102 FPS) is still playable, but at Ultra, the 55 FPS average suggests the card is struggling with the game’s most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern: at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 286 FPS to 161 FPS, a 44% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 257 FPS to 120 FPS, a 53% reduction. High settings see a drop from 214 FPS to 75 FPS, a 65% reduction, while Ultra falls from 166 FPS to 55 FPS, a 67% reduction. These percentages show that as settings increase, the GPU becomes more heavily utilized, and the resolution scaling becomes more punishing.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the combo is likely CPU-limited at Low and Medium settings, given that the frame rates exceed what most CPUs can sustain in game logic. However, at 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, with the frame rate dropping proportionally with the increase in pixel count. The fact that Ultra settings at 4K yield only 55 FPS, while Low at 4K yields 161 FPS, suggests that the game’s Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering cost beyond just resolution.

The limiting component analysis points to the GPU being the bottleneck at 4K, particularly at High and Ultra settings. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to keep up, but the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB of VRAM and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are what enable the high frame rates. The data shows that the combo scales well from 1080p to 1440p, with only a 16% drop in frame rate at Ultra (from 166 to 105 FPS), but the jump to 4K is more severe, with a 48% drop from 105 to 55 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS. This is the only 4K setting that maintains a frame rate above 100 FPS, which is essential for smooth gameplay. High settings at 4K drop to 75 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced stealth action, while Ultra at 55 FPS is borderline. Low at 4K is not recommended, as the visual quality is likely to be too compromised for a game that relies on environmental detail for stealth mechanics.

At 1440p, the High preset is the best choice, delivering 143 FPS average with no minimum frame rate recorded. This provides a perfect balance between visual fidelity and performance, especially for 144 Hz monitors. Ultra at 1440p still manages 105 FPS, which is acceptable, but the 38 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the graphical uplift. Medium at 220 FPS is overkill, and Low at 246 FPS is unnecessary.

For 1080p, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice, providing 166 FPS average. This is well above the refresh rate of most displays, and the visual quality is maximized. High at 214 FPS is also excellent if players prefer higher frame rates, but the data shows that Ultra at 1080p does not suffer from the same performance penalty seen at higher resolutions. The Medium and Low presets at 1080p produce frame rates that exceed 250 FPS, which is beyond the capability of most monitors and offers no practical benefit.

The measured data shows that the combo’s best experience is achieved at 1440p High or 4K Medium, depending on the display. The 16 GB of VRAM ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the card does not run out of memory, but the 55 FPS average at that setting indicates that the GPU’s compute power is the limiting factor. For most players, the Medium preset at 4K or High at 1440p will provide the smoothest experience, with the data showing that these settings offer the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability.