Hitman 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread desktop processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a locked multiplier part, meaning it is not overclockable, and it uses the Intel Socket 1151 interface with PCIe Gen 3 and 16 lanes from the CPU. The integrated UHD 630 graphics are present but irrelevant for this discrete GPU pairing.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 6,629 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 points in single-core, 2,784 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 392 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 5,141 multi-core and 1,389 single-core. These results place the CPU at the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2,254. The nearest rivals in performance are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2,259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2,248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2,246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2,264 (0.4% higher). This indicates the i5-9400 sits in a very competitive mid-range bracket, with negligible differences among these four chips.

For Hitman 2, the CPU's role is significant because the game's stealth gameplay often involves complex AI routines and physics interactions in crowded environments. The 6-core/6-thread configuration is adequate for this 2018 title, but the lack of hyperthreading means the processor relies on raw clock speed. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is relatively high for the era, which helps in scenarios where single-threaded performance is the bottleneck. However, given the extreme power of the paired GPU, the i5-9400 is likely to be a limiting factor in many scenes, particularly at lower resolutions where the frame rate demands on the CPU are higher. The data shows the CPU's average benchmark score of 2,254, which is only 0.4% below the i3-10305, suggesting that the i5-9400 is not a top-tier processor by modern standards, but it remains capable for this game's CPU demands, especially when considering the game's release date of November 2018.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a combo rank of 198 out of 3,001 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places the pairing in the top 6.6% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a processor that was mid-range at its launch. The ranking reflects the enormous performance contribution from the RTX 5090 D, which is the dominant component in this pairing. The CPU's percentile of 47th among all CPUs contrasts sharply with the GPU's percentile of 92nd among all GPUs, highlighting a significant performance imbalance.

The RTX 5090 D is the clear performance driver in this combo. Its average benchmark score of 77,712 is far above any CPU score, and the GPU's percentile of 92 is nearly double that of the CPU. This means that in most gaming scenarios, the RTX 5090 D is capable of far more work than the i5-9400 can feed it. The combo rank of 198 is therefore proof of the GPU's brute force, but the data suggests that the CPU is holding back the full potential of the graphics card. The nearest rivals to the GPU in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with a score of 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with 78,940 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants with scores around 79,396-79,605 (2.1-2.4% higher). These are the only comparisons available; the GPU's performance is in a different league from the CPU's rivals.

In the context of Hitman 2, the combo rank suggests that the system delivers playable or better frame rates across most settings, but the CPU bottleneck becomes apparent when the GPU is not fully utilized. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 214 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 52 FPS. The gap between these extremes is partly due to the GPU workload increasing with resolution, but the CPU's inability to maintain higher frame rates at lower resolutions is a strong indicator of a bottleneck. The i5-9400's 6 threads are sufficient for the game's engine, but they cannot keep up with the RTX 5090 D's capacity to render frames, especially in less demanding scenes where the GPU could otherwise push much higher numbers.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K, with the frame rate dropping significantly as resolution increases. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 174 at 1080p to 132 at 1440p, and then down to 71 at 4K. This represents a 24% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 59%, which is substantial but not as steep as one might expect given the fourfold increase in pixel count. This suggests that the GPU is not the sole limiting factor at lower resolutions.

At Low settings, the scaling is steeper in absolute terms: 214 FPS at 1080p, 184 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 14%, and from 1440p to 4K is 33%, for a total drop of 42%. The fact that Low settings show a smaller percentage drop than High settings indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is more likely to be the bottleneck, as the GPU has less work to do per frame. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the FPS values are 153 at 1080p, 98 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K, representing drops of 36% and 47% respectively, for a total of 66%. The larger percentage drop at Ultra settings points to the GPU becoming the primary limiter as the graphical load increases.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting component. The i5-9400's 6 threads can only push the frame rate so high, and the RTX 5090 D is not being fully utilized at this resolution. For example, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 214 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as the massive pixel count demands more from the graphics card, and the FPS drops to 52 at Ultra settings. The scaling pattern is consistent with a system where the CPU is the constraint at lower resolutions, and the GPU takes over as the constraint at higher resolutions. This is typical for a pairing of a mid-range CPU with a flagship GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 153 at Ultra to 214 at Low. The Medium preset delivers 192 FPS with a minimum of 164 and a maximum of 221, showing a tight frame time distribution. High settings at 1080p produce 174 FPS, which is a 21 FPS drop from Medium, while Ultra drops a further 21 FPS to 153. The gap from Low to Medium is 22 FPS, indicating that each step up in settings has a meaningful impact on frame rate, but the CPU appears to be the limiting factor at this resolution, as the RTX 5090 D is capable of much higher frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 98 at Ultra to 184 at Low. Medium settings deliver 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 and a maximum of 191, representing a 13.5% drop from Low. High settings produce 132 FPS, which is a 20% drop from Medium, and Ultra drops to 98 FPS, a 26% drop from High. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction in FPS across all settings, but the percentage drop is larger at higher settings (36% for Ultra vs. 14% for Low), confirming that the GPU becomes more of a factor as resolution increases. The 1440p Medium result of 166 FPS is particularly notable because it maintains a high minimum of 141 FPS, suggesting smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 52 at Ultra to 124 at Low. Medium settings deliver 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 107, which is a 25% drop from Low. High settings produce 71 FPS, a 24% drop from Medium, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS, a 27% drop from High. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the RTX 5090 D is heavily loaded with the pixel throughput. The 4K Medium result of 93 FPS is the only 4K preset with a recorded minimum and maximum, showing a range of 79 to 107 FPS, which indicates some frame time variance. The Ultra preset at 4K drops below 60 FPS, which may be noticeable in a stealth game where smooth motion is important for precise aiming.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 5090 D provides playable frame rates at all resolutions, but the CPU limits performance at 1080p, and the GPU limits performance at 4K. The 1440p results are the most balanced, with High settings delivering 132 FPS and Medium delivering 166 FPS, both of which are well above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1080p Low result of 214 FPS is the highest measured value, but it is unlikely to be a practical setting for most players due to the visual quality trade-off.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a flagship graphics card from the GeForce 50-series, based on the GB202 chip and Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The GPU has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). It is equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The card has 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS.

For Hitman 2, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by its percentile rank of 92nd among all GPUs. The RTX 5090 D's massive memory capacity of 32 GB is far more than this game requires, but it ensures no memory-related bottlenecks. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is also excessive for a 2018 title, meaning the GPU is never starved for data. The boost clock of 2407 MHz is high, and the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than enough to handle the game's DirectX 12 rendering. The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores are impressive: 14,326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 310,674 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376,915 in Geekbench Vulkan.

The RTX 5090 D's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (1.1% lower score), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants (2.1-2.4% higher). These comparisons are based on average benchmark scores, and the RTX 5090 D's 77,712 average is in the same ballpark as these chips, despite being a much newer and more powerful card in real-world gaming. This discrepancy suggests that the synthetic benchmarks may not fully capture the GPU's gaming prowess, or that the comparison set is not representative of its true peers.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's performance is constrained by the CPU at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the FPS is capped by the i5-9400's ability to process game logic and issue draw calls, not by the GPU's rendering speed. At 4K, the GPU is fully utilized, and the FPS is limited by the pixel fill rate and shading power. The RTX 5090 D's 176 ROPs and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for 4K, but the game's engine and the CPU's limitations prevent the GPU from reaching its full potential. The data shows that the RTX 5090 D is a capable card for Hitman 2, but its power is only fully realized at 4K, where it still delivers playable frame rates at all settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Hitman 2?

A: The combo ranks 198th out of 3,001 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: At which resolution does the CPU become the limiting factor?

A: At 1920x1080, the CPU is the primary constraint. The data shows 214 FPS at Low settings, which is likely near the i5-9400's maximum frame generation capability, while the RTX 5090 D could perform higher if not CPU-bound.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 214, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 192 FPS at 1080p Medium, showing that the CPU limits frame rates even at moderate settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D's synthetic benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB score 79,396 and 79,605 (2.1% and 2.4% higher), respectively.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 174 at 1080p to 71 at 4K, a total decrease of 59%. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46%.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra setting playable for this combo?

A: The 4K Ultra setting yields an average FPS of 52, which is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth. However, 4K Medium produces 93 FPS, and 4K High produces 71 FPS, both of which are playable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 192 FPS, which is an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 1080p produces 174 FPS, which is also smooth, but the 22 FPS difference between Medium and High suggests that Medium offers a better experience per frame. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 153 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 20% reduction from Medium for arguably marginal visual gains. For competitive play or high refresh rate monitors, Low settings at 1080p provide 214 FPS, but the visual sacrifice is significant.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 166 FPS, which is the best balance of quality and speed. The High preset produces 132 FPS, which is also smooth, but the 34 FPS difference between Medium and High is substantial. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 98 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but represents a 41% reduction from Medium. For a stealth game where responsiveness matters, Medium at 1440p is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high minimum FPS of 141 and a maximum of 191, indicating consistent frame pacing.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 93 FPS, which is the best option for 4K gaming. The High preset produces 71 FPS, which is playable but shows a 24% drop from Medium. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 52 FPS, which is below the preferred 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes. The Low preset at 4K delivers 124 FPS, but the visual quality is poor. Therefore, for 4K, Medium settings are recommended, as they provide the best combination of frame rate and visual fidelity, with a minimum FPS of 79 that ensures smooth gameplay.

Overall, the data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is powerful enough to handle Hitman 2 at high settings, but the i5-9400 CPU limits performance at lower resolutions. The 1440p Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo, offering 166 FPS with good visual quality. For 4K, Medium settings at 93 FPS are the best choice, as they avoid the CPU bottleneck entirely and provide a smooth experience. At 1080p, Medium at 192 FPS is recommended, as it balances the CPU's limitations with the GPU's capabilities.