Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a dramatically varied experience in Hitman 2, depending entirely on the resolution and quality preset chosen. At 1080p, this combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower settings, producing frame rates above 200 FPS, but it struggles to maintain a smooth 60 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data indicates the RTX 5070’s raw power is often held back by the six-core i5-9400, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this hardware?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance. At High settings, the combo achieves an average of 92.1 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. While 1080p is faster, 1440p provides a significant visual upgrade with a relatively modest performance cost, making it the sweet spot for this pairing.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?*

A: Yes, but only with significant compromises. At 4K High settings, the average FPS drops to 51.6, which is below the ideal 60 FPS target. To get a playable experience at 4K, you must lower the settings to Low, where the average FPS jumps to 86.7. Ultra settings at 4K are not viable, yielding only 36.7 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU influence performance at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400, with its 6 cores and 6 threads, becomes a limiting factor at 1080p. The difference between Low (216.8 FPS) and Medium (195.2 FPS) settings is relatively small, but the jump to High (146.6 FPS) and Ultra (108.1 FPS) is steep. This suggests that the CPU is struggling to feed the RTX 5070 enough data to keep up with the lower-resolution rendering workload.

Q: What is the performance cost of enabling Ultra settings compared to High?

A: The cost is substantial. At 1440p, moving from High to Ultra results in a 21.9 FPS drop, from 92.1 to 70.2 FPS. At 1080p, the drop is 38.5 FPS, from 146.6 to 108.1 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset is very demanding and offers diminishing returns for the significant performance hit.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's memory configuration affect results?

A: The RTX 5070 comes with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This high bandwidth is crucial for handling the detailed textures and environments in Hitman 2 at higher resolutions and settings, helping to maintain playable frame rates at 1440p and even 4K when settings are managed.

*Q: Is this a balanced combination for Hitman 2?*

A: The data suggests a balanced pairing at 1440p, but not at 1080p. At 1440p, the frame rates scale reasonably well with settings, indicating a more even workload. However, at 1080p, the performance difference between Low and Medium settings is only 21.6 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is 38.5 FPS, pointing to a CPU bottleneck that prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the clear recommendation. This configuration delivers an average of 92.1 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS target for a stealth game, providing smooth and responsive gameplay. The visual quality at High is significantly better than Medium or Low, and the performance is more stable than at 4K.

If a player prioritizes maximum frame rates for a competitive edge or has a high-refresh-rate 1080p monitor, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the best choice. It achieves an impressive 195.2 FPS average, which is a massive boost over High and only slightly slower than Low. This setting offers a good balance between visual fidelity and raw speed, avoiding the CPU bottleneck that seems to affect the High and Ultra presets at this resolution.

For 4K displays, the Low preset is the only option that provides a fully smooth experience, with an average of 86.7 FPS. While the visual downgrade is noticeable, it is the only way to play at 4K without suffering from frequent dips below 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 64.6 FPS is borderline, and High at 51.6 FPS is too inconsistent for a game that relies on precise movement.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing for most of the tested settings. Its high raw performance is evident in the frame rates achieved, particularly at lower resolutions where it is not constrained by the CPU. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are key to its ability to handle the large textures and complex scenes in Hitman 2.

The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. For example, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is a low 36.7, indicating that even the RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient for that extreme workload. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the GPU's power is underutilized, as the frame rate is likely capped by the CPU's ability to process the game logic and draw calls. The GPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its position as a high-end part, but its performance in this game is heavily dependent on the other system components.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination shows a clear CPU bottleneck at higher settings. The average FPS ranges from a very high 216.8 on Low to 195.2 on Medium. The drop to 146.6 on High and 108.1 on Ultra is significant, suggesting that the i5-9400 cannot keep up with the RTX 5070's rendering speed when more complex instructions are introduced.

At 2560x1440, the balance improves. The average FPS is 165.5 on Low, 121.2 on Medium, 92.1 on High, and 70.2 on Ultra. This scaling is more linear and typical of a well-balanced system, with each preset tier providing a meaningful and consistent performance step.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The average FPS is 86.7 on Low, 64.6 on Medium, 51.6 on High, and 36.7 on Ultra. The performance here is heavily dependent on the quality preset, and even the Low setting is not enough to reach the 100+ FPS territory seen at lower resolutions, highlighting the massive demand of 4K rendering on the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 427th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the top 24% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a capable pairing overall. The ranking is likely held back by the older CPU, as the GPU itself is very powerful.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark average score of 2305 places it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, alongside rivals like the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i7-8809G. This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, the system will perform similarly to these other mid-range processors. The GPU, with an average benchmark score of 41687, is at the 83rd percentile, a much stronger position relative to its own market. The high rank is therefore a signal of the RTX 5070's ability to push high frame rates in most situations, even when the CPU is a limiting factor.

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 belongs to the Coffee Lake architecture and has a 9 MB shared L3 cache. While these are sufficient specifications for many games, the data from Hitman 2 shows that it is a limiting factor in this specific pairing.

The evidence for a CPU bottleneck is strongest at 1080p. The performance delta between Low and Medium settings is only 21.6 FPS, while the delta between High and Ultra is 38.5 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the CPU is saturated and cannot fully utilize the RTX 5070's power once the graphical settings become more complex. The CPU's 50th percentile ranking and its performance being nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i7-8809G further illustrate its mid-range position, which is outmatched by the high-end GPU in this configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the shifting bottleneck. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 146.6 at 1080p to 92.1 at 1440p, and then to 51.6 at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 44% drop from 1440p to 4K. The steep decline at 4K indicates that the GPU is being pushed to its absolute limits.

At Low settings, the scaling is different. The FPS drops from 216.8 at 1080p to 165.5 at 1440p, and then to 86.7 at 4K. This is a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. The smaller drop at 1440p suggests that the CPU is still a factor at 1080p, preventing a more substantial performance increase. However, the massive drop at 4K confirms that the GPU is definitively the limiting component at that resolution. This pattern demonstrates that the system is CPU-limited at 1080p and GPU-limited at 4K, with 1440p being the point where the two components are most balanced.