Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination delivers a capable but uneven experience in Hitman 2, landing at rank 1136 out of 3711 tested combos. This places the pairing in the 69th percentile overall, a solid mid-to-upper tier result that reflects strong CPU headroom but a GPU that struggles to maintain high refresh rates at maximum fidelity. The data shows a system that is better suited to high-refresh 1080p and 1440p play than to 4K Ultra, where frame rates fall below playable thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

At rank 1136 of 3711 tested combinations, this CPU-GPU pairing sits in the upper third of all recorded systems for Hitman 2. The percentile ranking of 69 means roughly two-thirds of tested combos perform worse, while a substantial minority outperform this setup. The CPU component is the clear strength here — the i5-14600KF holds a 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs, meaning it is near the top of the performance distribution. The GPU is comparatively weaker, sitting at only the 69th percentile against all GPUs, which drags the overall combo ranking down from what the processor alone would suggest.

The delta between component percentiles — 90 for the CPU versus 69 for the GPU — indicates a noticeable imbalance. In Hitman 2, which is known for its CPU-heavy crowd and AI simulations, the processor’s strength helps at lower resolutions, but the graphics card becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. This is a classic case of a high-end CPU paired with a mid-range GPU, and the benchmark results reflect that asymmetry. The combo’s rank of 1136 out of 3711 is respectable but not elite; it suggests the system will excel in CPU-bound scenarios but fall short in GPU-bound ones, particularly at 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is a generous memory allocation for Hitman 2, a 2018 title that does not require massive VRAM pools, but it does provide headroom for high-resolution textures and future titles. The GPU’s boost clock is rated at 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz, and the memory runs at an effective speed of 20.1 Gbps. These clocks are moderate for the RDNA 4.0 architecture, and the data shows the card performing in a mid-range tier relative to other GPUs.

In Hitman 2, the RX 9070’s performance is characterized by a steep drop-off as settings increase. At 1080p, the card delivers 126 FPS on High but only 93 FPS on Ultra, showing that the Ultra preset’s additional effects and draw distances impose a significant cost. The GPU’s 69th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER and AMD Radeon RX 6800S in average benchmark scores, with delta percentages of -1.2 and -0.8 respectively. This is notable because the 2080 SUPER is a last-generation card, indicating the RX 9070’s Hitman 2 performance is not class-leading for its generation. The 16 GB VRAM is never stressed in this game at the tested settings, so the limiting factor is raw compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF is a 14-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It uses the Raptor Lake architecture on a 10 nm process and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, which is ample for Hitman 2’s engine that benefits from large caches for AI pathfinding and NPC logic. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32544 and a single-core score of 4594, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 17085. These numbers place the processor at the 90th percentile against all CPUs.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with a delta of 0.3% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with a delta of 0.8%, indicating the i5-14600KF is competitive with higher-tier processors. In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p where frame rates reach up to 223 FPS on Low settings. This suggests the processor is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than it can render, making the RX 9070 the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by the 4273 Passmark single-thread score, is critical for Hitman 2’s main-thread-heavy workload, and the data shows no CPU-related frame rate drops even at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i5-14600KF and RX 9070 combination delivers its best results. On Low settings, the average FPS is 223, which is exceptionally high and indicates a CPU-bound scenario where the GPU has ample headroom. Medium settings see a drop to 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 and a maximum of 192, showing good consistency. High settings produce 126 FPS, and Ultra drops to 93 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is particularly steep, a 33 FPS loss, suggesting that the Ultra preset includes demanding effects that disproportionately impact the GPU.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but show the GPU taking on more work. Low settings deliver 143 FPS, Medium produces 107 FPS with a range of 91 to 123, High yields 81 FPS, and Ultra falls to 60 FPS. The 1440p results are more balanced between CPU and GPU, with the Ultra preset still playable but no longer hitting high refresh rates. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is roughly 30-40%, which is expected for a resolution increase that nearly doubles pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings produce 76 FPS, Medium drops to 57 FPS with a range of 48 to 66, High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 32 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS target that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. The data shows a progressive degradation from Low to Ultra at 4K, with each settings tier costing approximately 15-20 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 48, which would result in noticeable stutter during busy scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound to GPU-bound as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the 223 FPS result suggests the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU could theoretically render more frames if given the chance. By 1080p Ultra, the 93 FPS result shows the GPU beginning to struggle, but the CPU is still not hitting its ceiling. Moving to 1440p, the balance shifts: Low produces 143 FPS, which is still high but indicates the GPU is now doing more work. At 1440p Ultra, the 60 FPS result shows a system that is evenly matched, with neither component clearly dominating.

The 4K results tell a different story. At 4K Low, the 76 FPS figure is substantially lower than the 143 FPS at 1440p Low, a drop of 47%. This is a larger percentage decrease than the pixel count increase (which is approximately 44% from 1440p to 4K), indicating the GPU is becoming the primary constraint. From 1080p to 4K, the FPS drops by 66% on Low settings (from 223 to 76), 70% on Medium (from 167 to 57), 66% on High (from 126 to 43), and 66% on Ultra (from 93 to 32). The consistency of this ~66% drop across settings reinforces that the GPU’s rendering throughput is the limiting factor at 4K, regardless of the quality preset.

The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo. At 1440p High, the 81 FPS result is playable and visually detailed, while 1440p Medium’s 107 FPS offers a smoother experience at slightly reduced fidelity. The 1080p results are excellent for competitive play, with Low and Medium both exceeding 160 FPS, but the visual quality is compromised. At 4K, the system can handle Medium at 57 FPS, but the experience is marginal for a game like Hitman 2 that benefits from stable frame rates for stealth mechanics.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 1080p, the High preset at 126 FPS offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, though Medium at 167 FPS is the better choice for high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset’s 223 FPS is excessive for most monitors and only useful for maximum competitive advantage. The Ultra preset at 1080p is not recommended, as the 93 FPS result represents a significant fidelity-to-performance tradeoff where the visual gains do not justify the 26% FPS loss from High.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides the best experience with 107 FPS and a minimum of 91 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in crowded scenes. The High preset at 81 FPS is also viable, offering better shadows and reflections, but the Medium preset’s higher frame rate is preferable for the game’s stealth gameplay, where fluid camera movement is critical. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is borderline, with the minimum FPS likely dipping below 60 in dense areas, so it is only recommended for players with adaptive sync displays who prioritize image quality.

For 4K users, the Low preset at 76 FPS is the only setting that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, but it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that relies on environmental details for player awareness. The Medium preset at 57 FPS is the most balanced choice, providing acceptable performance with a minimum of 48 FPS that will show occasional dips. High and Ultra at 4K are not recommended, as the 43 FPS and 32 FPS results, respectively, fall below the threshold for comfortable play. Overall, the data shows that this combo is best suited to 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 1440p Medium offering the best combination of frame rate, consistency, and visual quality across all tested configurations.