Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 — Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 9070

This combo pairs a 6-core/6-thread Coffee Lake CPU from 2018 with a current-generation RDNA 4.0 GPU, creating a platform where the GPU is clearly the dominant performance driver at higher resolutions, while the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p. The measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets shows a wide performance envelope, from 32 FPS at 4K Ultra to 214 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that Hitman 2 scales predictably with both resolution and settings on this hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a steep performance cliff that is typical of GPU-bound scenarios. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 126 FPS at 1920x1080 to 81 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 36% when moving to 1440p. Continuing to 3840x2160, the average falls further to 43 FPS, which is only about 34% of the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K while the frame rate does not scale proportionally.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic in absolute terms but less severe in percentage. The 1080p Low result of 214 FPS drops to 143 FPS at 1440p and then to 76 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is about 64%, which is smaller than the 66% drop seen at High settings, suggesting that at lower quality presets the CPU begins to exert more influence at 1080p, capping the maximum achievable frame rate. The 4K Low figure of 76 FPS versus the 4K High figure of 43 FPS shows that reducing settings from High to Low nearly doubles performance at 4K, which is a strong indicator of GPU-bound operation at that resolution.

The Medium preset data includes minimum and maximum FPS values, providing additional insight into frame time consistency. At 4K Medium, the average is 57 FPS with a minimum of 48 and maximum of 66, showing a tight range of 18 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 107 FPS with a min of 91 and max of 123, a spread of 32 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 167 FPS with a min of 142 and max of 192, a spread of 50 FPS. The widening range at lower resolutions suggests that CPU frame pacing becomes less consistent as the GPU has more headroom, which aligns with the CPU's older 6-thread design.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It lacks Hyper-Threading, meaning it processes one thread per core, which is a notable limitation for modern games that can utilize more than 6 threads. The CPU's L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. These specifications place it in the 47th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 2254, putting it in the mid-range of desktop processors.

In Cinebench R23, the i5-9400 scores 6629 in multi-core and 935 in single-core, which are modest figures by current standards. The single-core score of 935 suggests adequate per-thread performance for older game engines like Hitman 2, which was released in 2018 and does not heavily utilize many cores. The multi-core score of 6629 indicates that the CPU can handle some parallel workloads, but the lack of threads limits its performance in heavily threaded scenarios. The Geekbench scores of 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core reinforce this picture of a solid but not exceptional processor.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with an average score of 2259 and a delta of -0.2%, the Intel Core i7-10710U at 2248 with a delta of 0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 with a delta of 0.4%. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning that the i5-9400 offers essentially identical raw compute performance to these alternatives. However, the i5-9400's lack of multi-threading compared to the i7-10710U (which has 6 cores and 12 threads) could manifest in games that leverage more than 6 threads, though Hitman 2's measured results do not show a severe CPU bottleneck at most settings.

At 1080p Low, the 214 FPS average suggests that the CPU is near its limit, as the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates at this resolution. The 143 FPS at 1440p Low and 76 FPS at 4K Low show that the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p the CPU's single-thread performance and 6-thread limit appear to be the constraining factor. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is reasonably high for a 2018 processor, but the architecture's older design limits its instruction-per-clock efficiency compared to newer CPUs.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is a high-end GPU based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, with 56 ray tracing cores. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The base clock is 1330 MHz, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz and a game clock of 2070 MHz. The GPU's compute performance is 36.13 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, and it has a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s.

The RX 9070's benchmark scores place it in the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z with an average score of 23736 and a delta of 0.6%, the AMD Radeon RX 6800S at 24063 with a delta of -0.8%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile at 23628 with a delta of 1.1%. The RX 9070 sits within a tight performance band around these GPUs, with less than a 1.2% difference in average score. In the PassMark G3D test, it scores 25381, while in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 it scores 6290, indicating strong DirectX 12 performance.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is clearly dominant at 4K, where even at Low settings the average FPS is 76, which is well below the 1440p Low figure of 143 FPS. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Hitman 2's needs, as the game does not typically require large memory allocations even at 4K. The memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and memory access are not bottlenecks at any resolution. The boost clock of 2520 MHz is high for a GPU, and the RDNA 4.0 architecture provides efficient execution of the game's shader workloads.

The measured FPS at Ultra settings shows the GPU's limits clearly: 93 FPS at 1080p, 60 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. These figures indicate that the RX 9070 is not sufficient for 4K Ultra in Hitman 2, as 32 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1080p Ultra, the 93 FPS average is playable but not high-refresh-rate territory. The GPU's performance at High settings is more balanced, with 126 FPS at 1080p being smooth and 43 FPS at 4K being marginal. The GPU's average benchmark score of 23877 places it above the 69th percentile, but Hitman 2's specific demands at 4K Ultra exceed what this GPU can deliver.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 1168 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 68.5th percentile of all tested configurations. This rank is higher than the GPU's individual percentile of 69, but lower than what the GPU alone might suggest, indicating that the CPU is holding back the system to some extent. The combo rank of 1168 out of 3711 means that about 31.5% of tested combos perform better, which is a solid but not top-tier result for this game.

The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's mid-range performance (47th percentile) and the GPU's above-average performance (69th percentile). In a game like Hitman 2 that is not extremely CPU-intensive, the GPU can often reach its potential, but at 1080p Low, the CPU's limit of 214 FPS prevents the GPU from showing its full capability. The 1440p and 4K results are more representative of the GPU's power, with the 4K High figure of 43 FPS being a reasonable indication of the GPU's performance relative to other combos.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits in the upper third, meaning that most configurations with higher-end CPUs would likely achieve higher frame rates at 1080p, but at 4K the GPU becomes the equalizer. The rank of 1168 suggests that users with this combo can expect playable performance at 1080p and 1440p across most settings, with 4K requiring lower quality presets for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors up to 120 Hz. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 93 FPS, which is still playable but not as smooth. For the best experience at 1080p, High settings are recommended as they provide a balance of visual quality and performance, with the Low preset at 214 FPS being unnecessary unless aiming for extreme frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the High preset achieves 81 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides a good experience. The Medium preset at 107 FPS is also viable, offering a smoother experience with slightly reduced visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 60 FPS is exactly at the threshold, so it is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but not ideal for variable refresh rate monitors. The Medium setting is the best choice for 1440p, as it provides a 32% higher frame rate over High (107 vs 81 FPS) while maintaining decent visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 43 FPS is below the 60 FPS target and may feel sluggish. The Medium preset at 57 FPS is closer to playable, with a minimum of 48 FPS, but still not consistently smooth. The Low preset at 76 FPS is the only setting that provides a comfortable frame rate at 4K, offering a 33% improvement over Medium (76 vs 57 FPS). For 4K, Low settings are recommended for a playable experience, though users with 60 Hz displays may accept Medium as a compromise between visual quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low 214 FPS, Medium 167 FPS (min 142, max 192), High 126 FPS, and Ultra 93 FPS. These figures show a monotonic decrease as settings increase, with the gap between Low and Medium being 47 FPS (22%), Medium to High being 41 FPS (25%), and High to Ultra being 33 FPS (26%). The 1080p Medium data includes a minimum of 142 FPS and maximum of 192 FPS, indicating a frame time variance of 50 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the measured values are: Low 143 FPS, Medium 107 FPS (min 91, max 123), High 81 FPS, and Ultra 60 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 36 FPS (25%), Medium to High is 26 FPS (24%), and High to Ultra is 21 FPS (26%). The 1440p Medium range of 91 to 123 FPS shows a variance of 32 FPS, which is narrower than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the measured values are: Low 76 FPS, Medium 57 FPS (min 48, max 66), High 43 FPS, and Ultra 32 FPS. The reductions are 19 FPS (25%) from Low to Medium, 14 FPS (25%) from Medium to High, and 11 FPS (26%) from High to Ultra. The 4K Medium range of 48 to 66 FPS shows a variance of 18 FPS, which is the smallest among all resolutions, indicating more consistent frame pacing at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides 107 FPS average, making it the sweet spot for performance and visual quality. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 126 FPS, while 3840x2160 requires Low settings to reach 76 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080 Low, the CPU limits the frame rate to 214 FPS, as the GPU is capable of higher. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck, with the GPU becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Q: Is 4K playable with this combo?

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 76, which is playable. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 57 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS, which is borderline. At 4K High and Ultra, the averages are 43 and 32 FPS respectively, which are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 142. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 91 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 48 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1168 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 68.5th percentile. This is higher than the CPU's individual percentile of 47 but slightly below the GPU's percentile of 69.

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

A: At 1920x1080, High settings yield 126 FPS average, while Ultra settings yield 93 FPS, a difference of 33 FPS (26% reduction). This suggests that Ultra settings provide diminishing returns for the performance cost.