Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 shows a clear pattern: the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU keeps pace at lower settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers 194 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 124 FPS, a 36% reduction, and at 3840x2160 Low it falls further to 66 FPS, another 47% reduction from the 1440p result. This steep scaling curve at Low settings indicates the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count, which is expected for a GPU-bound scenario.

At High settings, the same resolution ladder shows 110 FPS at 1080p, 70 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are similar: 36% from 1080p to 1440p, and 46% from 1440p to 4K. This consistency across Low and High presets suggests the RTX 3070 is the primary constraint, as the frame rate falls nearly proportionally to the pixel count increase. The 4K High result of 38 FPS is below the common 60 FPS target, confirming that this resolution is too demanding for this pairing at that preset.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling: 81 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, and 28 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 36%, matching the other presets, but the 1440p to 4K drop is 46%. The 4K Ultra figure of 28 FPS is barely playable for a stealth action game, and the data indicates that this combination cannot sustain smooth gameplay at that configuration. The medium preset at 4K produces 50 FPS average with a minimum of 42 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that approaches playability, though still short of a locked 60.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom that CPU limits could surface at Ultra settings, but the recorded numbers show the GPU still dictates the trend. The 1080p Ultra score of 81 FPS is 58% lower than the 1080p Low score of 194 FPS, which points to the increased shader and texture work from the Ultra preset being the main cost. Overall, the data indicates a GPU-bound system at all resolutions above 1080p Low, with the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth being the likely throughput ceiling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 uses the GA104 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. Its base clock is 1500 MHz and boost clock is 1725 MHz, while the memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective, delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth over a 256-bit bus. The 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is sufficient for Hitman 2 at 1080p and 1440p across all presets, as the measured FPS remains high even at Ultra. At 4K Ultra, the 28 FPS average suggests the 8 GB capacity may be stressed, though the data cannot isolate VRAM pressure from raw compute limits.

The RTX 3070's compute resources include 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, 96 ROPs, 46 RT cores, and 184 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS. These specifications explain the strong 1080p performance: the card sustains 146 FPS at Medium and 110 FPS at High, showing it can handle the game's stealth environments with dense geometry and dynamic lighting. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3162 and Passmark G3D score of 22214 confirm the GPU's overall capability, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, which is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (17083), 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17037), and 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17019). The NVIDIA Tesla K40c is 1.5% higher at 17468, making it the only listed rival that edges out the RTX 3070 in aggregate benchmarks. These narrow deltas indicate that the RTX 3070 sits in a competitive performance band, and the in-game FPS results reflect that mid-to-high tier positioning.

The 4K Low result of 66 FPS shows the GPU can still push respectable frame rates when texture and shadow quality are reduced, but the 4K Medium score of 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS reveals the diminishing returns of higher presets at that resolution. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 12-pin power connector suggest it is a power-hungry part, but the measured FPS data does not include power consumption, so the analysis remains performance-focused. The 3DMark and Passmark scores align with the in-game numbers: the RTX 3070 is a strong 1440p performer and an adequate 4K performer only at lower quality settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: The highest recorded average is 194 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The same resolution at Medium produces 146 FPS, High produces 110 FPS, and Ultra produces 81 FPS.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The only 4K setting that exceeds 60 FPS is Low, which averages 66 FPS. Medium averages 50 FPS, High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS, all below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, which is 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, and 1.1% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7970M. The NVIDIA Tesla K40c is 1.5% higher at 17468.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 2560x1440 Medium?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset shows an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. This 28 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates moderate frame pacing variance.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not limiting at 1080p Low, since the 194 FPS result is far above typical display refresh rates. The Intel Core i5-9400 with 6 cores and 6 threads, boosting to 4.10 GHz, is sufficient for that workload. At 1080p Ultra, the 81 FPS result is still high, indicating the GPU remains the primary constraint.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the RTX 3070 among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 3070 sits in the 61st percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17208. This places it above the median, confirming its mid-to-high tier status.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance for this CPU-GPU combo. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 146 FPS average with a minimum of 124 FPS and a maximum of 168 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 60 FPS and even supports high refresh rate displays. The jump from Low to Medium costs 48 FPS (from 194 to 146), but the visual improvement from Medium over Low is substantial for a stealth game with detailed environments. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS target, making it the recommended preset for 1440p gaming.

High settings are the next option, and at 1080p they produce 110 FPS, which is still very smooth. At 1440p, High drops to 70 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The 4K High result of 38 FPS is not recommended for serious play, as the average falls below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for action sequences. Ultra settings at 1080p give 81 FPS, which is acceptable, but at 1440p the 52 FPS average is borderline, and at 4K the 28 FPS is too low for the game's stealth mechanics where timing matters.

For players with 1080p displays, the data supports using Ultra if visual fidelity is the priority, as the 81 FPS average remains smooth. For 1440p displays, Medium is the safest choice to guarantee 60 FPS, while High can be used if the user tolerates occasional dips below 70. For 4K displays, only Low settings achieve 60 FPS, and even that is close to the limit at 66 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K produces 50 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced stealth game, but the data does not support recommending it over Low for consistent performance.

The measured frame time data for Medium at 1080p shows a minimum of 124 FPS and maximum of 168 FPS, a 44 FPS spread, which indicates some variability but no severe stutters. The 1440p Medium spread is 28 FPS (79 to 107), tighter than the 1080p spread, suggesting the GPU is the bottleneck at 1440p while the CPU handles frame pacing more consistently. Overall, the Medium preset is the most reliable across all three resolutions, and the numbers show it is the only preset that offers 60 FPS or higher at both 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the recorded average frame rates are: Low 194 FPS, Medium 146 FPS (minimum 124, maximum 168), High 110 FPS, and Ultra 81 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of roughly 30% per preset step, with the largest single drop being 36 FPS from Medium to High. The minimum FPS of 124 at Medium is higher than the average FPS of 110 at High, which illustrates that the Medium preset provides a more consistent experience than High despite the lower nominal average.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 124 FPS, Medium 93 FPS (minimum 79, maximum 107), High 70 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS. The 1440p Medium minimum of 79 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the only 1440p preset with a guaranteed minimum above 60. The High preset at 70 FPS average has no recorded minimum, but the gap between Medium and High is 23 FPS, similar to the 36 FPS gap at 1080p. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS falls below the 60 FPS target, and the 1440p data confirms that Ultra is not suitable for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 66 FPS, Medium 50 FPS (minimum 42, maximum 57), High 38 FPS, and Ultra 28 FPS. The 4K Low result of 66 FPS barely clears 60, but the 4K Medium minimum of 42 FPS shows that even the middle preset cannot maintain a smooth frame rate. The 4K High and Ultra figures of 38 and 28 FPS respectively are clearly below playable thresholds for most users. The 4K data demonstrates that this combo is only viable at the lowest settings, and even then, the margin is thin.

The combo's overall rank in the database for Hitman 2 is 1601 out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the 57th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the balance between the i5-9400's 47th percentile CPU score and the RTX 3070's 61st percentile GPU score, with the measured FPS showing the GPU pulling more weight in this title. The 1080p results are strong enough to rank highly, but the 4K results drag down the overall position relative to systems with higher-end GPUs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz and boost clock is 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU has 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth, and uses PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes. In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 668 in Cinebench R15 multi-core, 94 in single-core, 2784 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, 392 in single-core, 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, and 935 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core.

The CPU's 47th percentile ranking among all processors places it in the lower half of the database, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, 0.2% higher), Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, 0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, 0.4% lower), and Intel Core i3-10305 (2264, 0.4% higher). These tiny deltas indicate that the i5-9400 sits in a very tight performance cluster, and its in-game impact is likely similar to those processors.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role becomes apparent only at low resolutions and low settings where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the 194 FPS result is high enough that the CPU is likely near its limit, but the data does not show a clear CPU cap since the FPS still scales with GPU settings. The 6-core, 6-thread configuration without hyper-threading is adequate for Hitman 2's AI and physics workloads, which typically use fewer than 6 threads. The 4.10 GHz boost clock helps with single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 94 and R23 single-core score of 935.

The 1080p Medium result of 146 FPS with a minimum of 124 FPS suggests that the CPU maintains frame pacing even under moderate GPU load, since the minimum is only 15% below the average. At 1440p Medium, the minimum of 79 FPS is 15% below the 93 FPS average, showing similar consistency. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is modest by modern standards, but Hitman 2's asset streaming does not appear to be limited by it, given the high FPS at 1080p. The lack of a recorded minimum FPS for most settings means the data only shows averages, but the two presets with minimums (Medium at all resolutions) indicate stable performance.

The 4K Low result of 66 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU would need to feed fewer than 70 frames per second, which is well within its capability. The CPU's 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status suggest it is not a high-end part, but the benchmark data confirms it is sufficient for Hitman 2 at all tested resolutions when paired with the RTX 3070. The 6-core design without hyper-threading means it cannot match modern 8-core or 12-thread CPUs in multi-threaded workloads, but the game's engine does not appear to require that level of parallelism.