Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a highly playable Hitman 2 experience at 1080p and 1440p, but the Ultra preset is consistently demanding. At 4K, the combo struggles to maintain smooth framerates, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear hierarchy: Low settings provide the highest headroom, while Ultra can cut performance by more than half at every resolution.

FAQ

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

A: 1920x1080 is the strongest choice, with the High preset achieving 100.8 FPS and Low reaching 169.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the experience remains solid with Medium at 84 FPS, but 3840x2160 is only viable on Low settings, which yields 57.3 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Low at 1440p?

A: The difference is substantial. Low settings at 2560x1440 produce 111.8 FPS, while Ultra drops to 44.2 FPS, a reduction of 67.5 FPS. This suggests that Ultra settings impose a heavy load that significantly limits the framerate.

Q: Is the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM a limiting factor in this game?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for the measured presets, as the performance degradation from High to Ultra at 4K (33.4 to 23.5 FPS) points more toward raw compute limits than a strict memory capacity issue.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1039 out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This position reflects the balance between the 6-core CPU and the mid-range GPU in this specific title.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between High and Medium at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High settings yield 100.8 FPS, while Medium provides a higher 127.6 FPS, a difference of 26.8 FPS. This makes Medium a strong option for prioritizing framerate without a major visual step down.

Q: Does the CPU hold back performance at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings only achieve 57.3 FPS. At 1080p, the higher framerates (169.5 FPS on Low) indicate the 6-core processor is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal choice, delivering 84 FPS. This provides a significant improvement over High (63.7 FPS) while maintaining visual fidelity. At 1080p, the High preset at 100.8 FPS is the best all-around option, offering a smooth framerate with good image quality; users seeking maximum smoothness can switch to Medium for 127.6 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it drops below 72 FPS even at 1080p (71.8 FPS) and falls to 23.5 FPS at 4K, making it unsuitable for consistent play. For 4K, the Low preset at 57.3 FPS is the only playable option, but the visual compromise is steep.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 features 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This Coffee Lake architecture processor has a 9 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In Hitman 2, the CPU's performance is adequate for 1080p gaming, as evidenced by the 169.5 FPS result on Low settings. The processor's benchmark scores, such as 7969 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1125 in single-core, place it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400 is effectively tied with the Intel Core i3-10305 (deltaPct 0.2) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (deltaPct 0.2), while being slightly behind the Intel Core i7-8809G (deltaPct -0.6). At 4K, the framerate drops are more attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's 6 threads are less likely to be the primary constraint when the GPU is rendering at such high pixel counts.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database, this specific pairing of the Core i5-9400 and RTX 4060 ranks 1039 out of 1795 tested combos for Hitman 2. This mid-pack ranking indicates that while the system is capable, it is not optimized for maximum performance in this title. The GPU itself sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23181. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (deltaPct -0.7), which are marginally faster, while the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7) is slightly slower. The CPU's 50th percentile standing pulls the overall combo down, suggesting that a stronger processor would allow the RTX 4060 to perform more consistently at higher framerates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU has more influence.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). Its 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 15.11 TFLOPS. In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes dominant at higher resolutions. At 4K, the framerate scales from 57.3 FPS on Low to 23.5 FPS on Ultra, showing a clear performance ceiling. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the tested presets, as the bottleneck appears to be the GPU's compute throughput rather than memory capacity. The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 places it just below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and above the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the framerates are consistently high: Low settings achieve 169.5 FPS, Medium reaches 127.6 FPS, High provides 100.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 71.8 FPS. The step from High to Ultra is a 29 FPS reduction, showing that Ultra is a heavy preset. At 2560x1440, the results show a similar pattern: Low delivers 111.8 FPS, Medium hits 84 FPS, High produces 63.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 44.2 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is 20.3 FPS. At 3840x2160, performance is substantially lower: Low manages 57.3 FPS, Medium achieves 43.6 FPS, High reaches 33.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 23.5 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that the RTX 4060 can handle 1080p and 1440p well on most presets, but 4K is only marginally playable on the lowest settings.

Resolution Scaling

Scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces framerates by roughly 30-40% across all settings. For example, High settings drop from 100.8 FPS at 1080p to 63.7 FPS at 1440p, a 36.8% decrease. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with High falling from 63.7 FPS to 33.4 FPS, a 47.6% reduction. On Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 4K sees a 66.2% decrease (169.5 to 57.3 FPS). This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution increases, as the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count. The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU's raw compute power is insufficient to maintain high framerates, even on Low settings. The data confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p high-refresh-rate gaming, with 1440p being a viable secondary option on Medium or High presets.