Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for this Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination in Hitman 2 reveal a predictable and steep curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers 179.4 FPS, which drops to 117.8 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 60 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 66.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count quadruples.

Moving to High settings, the pattern persists but with a more compressed range. The average frame rate at 1080p is 102.7 FPS, falling to 66.3 FPS at 1440p, and reaching just 32.7 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K at High settings is particularly telling: a 33.6 FPS drop, which is nearly identical to the absolute drop seen between 1080p and 1440p. This suggests that the RTX 5060's 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface are being stressed heavily at 4K, where even Medium settings only yield 48.6 FPS.

The Ultra settings data reinforces this GPU-bound conclusion. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 24.1 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The jump from Ultra to High at 4K is 8.6 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is 15.9 FPS. This non-linear scaling indicates that the game's Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory operates at 1750 MHz with a 28 Gbps effective data rate, delivering 448.0 GB/s across a 128-bit bus. These specifications directly explain the performance cliff observed at 4K. The card's base clock of 2280 MHz and boost clock of 2497 MHz are moderate, but the 3840 shading units and 120 texture mapping units provide solid throughput at lower resolutions.

Benchmark data places this GPU in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 30109. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, scores 30097, a delta of 0%. This parity in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to identical gaming performance, as Hitman 2's engine appears to favor the RTX 5060's memory bandwidth characteristics at 1080p and 1440p. The 48 ROPs are a potential bottleneck at 4K, where pixel throughput requirements overwhelm the card's 119.9 GPixel/s pixel rate.

The GPU's 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores are present but underutilized in this 2018 title, which predates the widespread adoption of ray tracing. Instead, the card's raw rasterization performance, measured at 19.18 TFLOPS FP32, carries the load. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 77 and DirectX 11 score of 200 indicate that the card's driver overhead is well-managed for this generation of API, which aligns with Hitman 2's DX12 compatibility.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF provides a substantial foundation for this GPU. With 14 cores and 20 threads, the processor combines 6 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores based on the Raptor Lake-R architecture. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensure that single-threaded tasks, which Hitman 2 relies on for game logic and AI, receive ample processing power. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core reduce memory latency, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame times.

Synthetic benchmarks confirm this CPU's strength. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and single-core score of 4643 place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 49367 is remarkably close to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 49166 (a 0.4% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X scores 49062 (a 0.6% delta). The i5-14600KF actually outperforms the Ryzen 9 5950X by a small margin in average score, despite having fewer threads.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 179.4 FPS, which is likely approaching the engine's frame rate ceiling for this processor. The PassMark single-thread score of 4273 and multi-thread score of 38697 indicate that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at 1080p, but the GPU still becomes the bottleneck as settings increase. The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest headroom for overclocking, though the data provided does not include overclocked results.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1795 tested combinations in the database, this pairing of Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 919th in Hitman 2. This places it almost exactly in the middle of all tested combos, which is notable given the individual component rankings. The CPU sits in the 93rd percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 73rd percentile, suggesting that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing for this specific title.

The mid-pack ranking reflects a balance of strengths and weaknesses. The CPU's strong single-threaded performance helps at 1080p, but the GPU's modest memory subsystem limits 4K performance. Compared to a hypothetical combo with the RTX 5060 paired with a weaker CPU, the data would likely show similar frame rates at 4K, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Conversely, pairing this CPU with a stronger GPU would likely yield better 4K results, as the CPU has ample headroom.

The delta between the CPU and its closest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K at 0.4%, is negligible, meaning that swapping to that chip would not meaningfully change the combo's ranking. However, the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with a 0% delta, suggests that alternative GPU choices could produce similar overall results, though the specific frame rates in Hitman 2 might differ due to game-specific driver optimizations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce 179.4 FPS, which is by far the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 134.9 FPS, a 44.5 FPS reduction that shows the cost of enabling additional shading and texture effects. High settings drop to 102.7 FPS, still comfortably above 100 FPS for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings reduce performance to 78.8 FPS, which remains playable but demonstrates the significant overhead of the game's highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings achieve 117.8 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium settings produce 85.2 FPS, while High settings yield 66.3 FPS — the first time the combo dips below 70 FPS at this resolution. Ultra settings at 1440p result in 47.3 FPS, indicating that this resolution and preset combination is the edge of playable territory for demanding users.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become stark. Low settings achieve exactly 60 FPS, which is the minimum for most displays. Medium settings drop to 48.6 FPS, and High settings fall to 32.7 FPS. Ultra settings at 4K produce just 24.1 FPS, which is below the threshold for cinematic frame pacing and effectively unplayable for action sequences. The data shows that 4K gaming with this combo requires Low settings for a consistent 60 FPS experience, while 1440p Ultra at 47.3 FPS offers a more balanced compromise between visual fidelity and smoothness.