Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the Intel Arc B570 in Hitman 2 produces a performance profile that is heavily dependent on resolution and settings, with the data showing a clear transition from CPU-bound territory at lower resolutions to GPU-bound territory at 4K. This combination ranks in the lower percentile of all tested system pairings for this title, yet it still delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings adjustments. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, component roles, and scaling characteristics to provide a comprehensive view of what this hardware duo offers in this specific stealth game.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall rank of this CPU-GPU combo in Hitman 2?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2399 out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 20th percentile of all system pairings for this game.

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved with this combo?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 123, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that exceeds 120 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), 0.1% lower than the Intel Arc A750 (20582), 0.4% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480), and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662).

Q: Is the Core i5-9400 considered a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: The Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259 (0.2% higher), while the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% lower).

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 50, with an average of 59 and a maximum of 68. This is the only resolution/settings combination at 1440p that includes min/max data.

Q: How much VRAM does the Arc B570 have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The Intel Arc B570 features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using TSMC's 5 nm process, and the data indicates it carries a substantial transistor count of 19,600 million on a 272 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 10 GB GDDR6 frame buffer on a 160-bit bus delivers 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical factor for Hitman 2 at higher resolutions where texture loads and memory throughput become more demanding.

In terms of raw compute, the Arc B570 provides 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s, with a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s. The GPU's percentile ranking of 65 places it above the median of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 20556 puts it in direct competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% higher) and the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% lower). The measured FPS data in Hitman 2 shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 18, indicating that the 10 GB VRAM and 160-bit bus are insufficient for the highest fidelity at that resolution.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 123 FPS, but this drops to 79 FPS at 1440p Low and 42 FPS at 4K Low, showing a consistent scaling pattern that reflects the GPU's workload. The Arc B570's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are relevant for Hitman 2, which utilizes modern rendering APIs, though the PassMark DirectX 12 score of 72 suggests the GPU is more optimized for specific workloads than others.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2399 out of 3001 tested combinations places this system in the bottom 20% of all pairings for Hitman 2. This ranking is notable because both components individually sit near the median of their respective categories — the CPU at the 47th percentile and the GPU at the 65th percentile. The discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo rank suggests that the pairing is not optimally balanced for this particular game, likely due to the CPU's limited thread count (6 cores, 6 threads) bottlenecking the GPU's potential in certain scenarios.

When compared to other tested combos, this rank of 2399 means there are 602 other systems that perform worse, but a substantial majority (2400) perform better. The data shows that the combo's performance is heavily influenced by the CPU's Coffee Lake architecture, which has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and single-core score of 935 provide context for its capabilities, though Hitman 2's engine appears to favor the GPU more heavily at higher resolutions.

The ranking also reflects the fact that the Arc B570, while a capable GPU, is not a high-end part — its 2304 shading units and 80 ROPs are modest by modern standards. The combination of a mid-range 2018 CPU with a mid-range 2025 GPU creates a system that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but struggles at 4K, which is consistent with the measured FPS data across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its best performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 123 FPS, which is the highest measured value for this combo. Medium settings yield 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 106, while High settings average 70 FPS. Ultra settings drop to 52 FPS, which is still playable but indicates the GPU is being pushed harder at this fidelity level. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 57.7% reduction in FPS (from 123 to 52), demonstrating the significant impact of settings on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the FPS figures decrease across all settings. Low settings average 79 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS (with a minimum of 50 and maximum of 68), High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings is substantial: Low loses 44 FPS (35.8%), Medium loses 34 FPS (36.6%), High loses 25 FPS (35.7%), and Ultra loses 19 FPS (36.5%). This consistent ~36% reduction across all settings indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for playability. Low settings average 42 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that approaches acceptable frame rates. Medium averages 32 FPS with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 36, High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra drops to 18 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe: Low loses 37 FPS (46.8%), Medium loses 27 FPS (45.8%), High loses 21 FPS (46.7%), and Ultra loses 15 FPS (45.5%). This steeper decline at 4K further confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 93 FPS and a minimum of 79 FPS that ensures smooth gameplay without dipping below 60 FPS. The High preset at 70 FPS is also viable for users who prioritize visual fidelity, but the 23 FPS difference between Medium and High may not justify the graphical improvement for competitive play.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, averaging 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS. This provides a playable experience, though users who require consistent 60+ FPS may need to use Low settings, which average 79 FPS. The High preset at 45 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 33 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that only Low settings (42 FPS) are viable for playable frame rates, though this comes with significant visual compromises. Medium at 32 FPS and High at 24 FPS are below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and Ultra at 18 FPS is effectively unplayable. Users targeting 4K should expect to sacrifice most visual quality settings to achieve acceptable performance, and even then, the frame rates remain suboptimal.

Overall, the data indicates that the best experience with this combo is achieved at 1080p Medium or 1440p Low/Medium, where the system can maintain frame rates above 60 FPS without requiring extreme settings reductions. The 1080p Medium configuration with a minimum of 79 FPS offers the most consistent experience across all measured scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP and support for DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 per core, 256 KB L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 2254. Its Cinebench R23 results show 6629 for multicore and 935 for single-core, while Geekbench scores are 5141 for multicore and 1389 for single-core. The nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, 0.2% higher), Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, 0.4% higher), and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4% lower).

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role appears to be more significant at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low setting achieves 123 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given that the GPU should theoretically handle this workload easily. As resolution increases, the CPU's influence diminishes, and the GPU becomes the bottleneck — this is evidenced by the steeper FPS drops from 1440p to 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p. The CPU's 6 threads may struggle to maintain high frame rates in CPU-intensive scenes, particularly when the game engine has to process AI, physics, and game logic alongside rendering tasks.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about which component is limiting performance at each resolution. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS reduction across all settings is approximately 36%, which is close to the pixel count increase of 78% (from 2.07 million to 3.69 million pixels). This suggests that the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p, and the CPU is likely holding back performance in some scenarios.

From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the average FPS reduction is approximately 46%, while the pixel count increases by 125% (from 3.69 million to 8.29 million pixels). This steeper decline indicates that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as it struggles to handle the increased pixel throughput required at 4K. The Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 160-bit bus become limiting factors at this resolution, particularly when textures and shader data need to be accessed frequently.

The data shows that at 1080p, the system achieves 70 FPS on High settings, which is a reasonable result for the hardware. At 1440p, the same settings produce 45 FPS, and at 4K, only 24 FPS. This progression illustrates the GPU's scaling limits — the Arc B570 can handle 1440p gaming with adjusted settings but is not designed for 4K gaming at high fidelity. The 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the combination of higher resolution textures and larger frame buffers likely exceeds the memory capacity, contributing to the 18 FPS average at that setting.

The resolution scaling analysis confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being achievable with reduced settings. The transition from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K is a classic pattern for mid-range hardware, and the measured data provides a clear picture of where the performance envelope lies for this pairing.