Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

This configuration pairs a high-end 12th-generation Intel processor with an entry-level Turing-based graphics card, producing a system where the GPU is the clear performance bottleneck across all tested scenarios. The Intel Core i7-12700K ranks in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 sits in the 40th percentile among all GPUs, a disparity that manifests in the measured frame rates for Hitman 2. The benchmark data reveals a system capable of playable frame rates only at 1080p with reduced settings, with the GPU's 4 GB of VRAM and modest compute resources constraining performance well before the processor's capabilities are exhausted.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is the signature behavior of a GPU-bound configuration. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system delivers 39 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 25 FPS, a reduction of approximately 36%. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 13 FPS, representing a 67% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern—where each step up in resolution produces a proportionally larger FPS penalty—indicates that the graphics card is saturating its resources well before the CPU becomes a limiting factor.

The Low settings preset illustrates a similar trend but from a higher baseline. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 69 FPS average, which drops to 44 FPS at 1440p (36% reduction) and further to 24 FPS at 4K (65% reduction from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings presets confirms that resolution scaling is governed almost entirely by GPU throughput rather than CPU performance. The Core i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is never the constraint in these measurements.

Examining the Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 52 FPS with a range of 44 to 60 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 33 FPS with a range of 28 to 38 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 18 FPS with a range of 15 to 20 FPS. The narrowing FPS range at higher resolutions—from a 16 FPS spread at 1080p to a 5 FPS spread at 4K—suggests the GPU is operating at its limits more consistently, with less headroom for variance.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe resolution scaling. Starting from 29 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 18 FPS at 1440p (38% reduction) and then to 10 FPS at 4K (66% reduction from 1080p). This pattern indicates that even at 1080p Ultra, the GTX 1650 is already struggling to maintain playable frame rates, and the additional pixel count at higher resolutions overwhelms its limited processing capability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the Turing architecture using the TU117 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The card operates with a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 2.984 TFLOPS, which is modest by modern standards and explains the card's 40th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Memory configuration is a significant limiting factor for this card in Hitman 2. The GTX 1650 comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The memory operates at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). At 4K resolution with High settings, the game requires more memory bandwidth than this configuration can provide, resulting in the measured 13 FPS average. Even at 1080p with Ultra settings, the 4 GB capacity appears insufficient, as evidenced by the 29 FPS average that falls well below the 60 FPS threshold typically desired for smooth gameplay.

The card's benchmark scores reinforce its position as an entry-level solution. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 305 points, while its Passmark G3D score is 7880. The Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 29629 and 33042 respectively. These figures place the GTX 1650 in the 40th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (0.3% faster), Intel UHD Graphics 750 (0.4% faster), and AMD Radeon R7 350 (0.6% faster). The Intel Arc A310 is 1% slower. This competitive positioning shows that the GTX 1650 sits at the very bottom of the discrete GPU performance hierarchy.

The card's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate its design as a low-power, slot-powered solution. The 250 W suggested PSU further emphasizes its modest power requirements. The dual-slot form factor and 229 mm length are typical for this class of card, but the performance characteristics remain the defining feature for gaming workloads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K represents a substantial processing resource that is largely underutilized in this gaming configuration. With 12 cores (8 performance and 4 efficiency cores in the Alder Lake architecture) and 20 threads, the processor provides far more compute capability than Hitman 2 requires at the tested settings. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz deliver strong single-threaded performance, which is typically what matters most for gaming workloads.

The processor's benchmark results demonstrate its high-end positioning. In Cinebench R23, it scores 19784 points in multi-core and 1850.5 points in single-core tests. The 3DMark scores range from 1043 in single-thread to 9979 in max-threads testing. Passmark single-thread performance is 4013, and multi-thread is 34404. These figures place the i7-12700K in the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-13600T (0.1% slower), Intel Core i7-12700KF (0.2% slower), Intel Core i7-13700T (0.3% slower), and Intel Core 5 213PE (0.4% slower).

The processor's memory support includes both DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel memory bus. The 25 MB shared L3 cache provides ample capacity for game data. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant for this configuration since the discrete GTX 1650 handles all rendering duties.

In the context of Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The 12-core, 20-thread configuration is overkill for this task, but it ensures that no CPU-induced frame drops occur. The measured FPS patterns across all resolutions and settings are consistent with a purely GPU-limited scenario, meaning the i7-12700K is never the bottleneck in this pairing.

The processor's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 interface are standard for its generation. The 10 nm process node and 215 mm² die size contribute to its efficiency profile, though these characteristics do not directly impact gaming performance in this specific test.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the configuration produces its best results. Low settings yield 69 FPS average, which is the only preset to reach or exceed 60 FPS. Medium settings produce 52 FPS average with a range of 44 to 60 FPS. High settings drop to 39 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 29 FPS average. These numbers indicate that 1080p is the only resolution where playable frame rates are achievable, and only with reduced settings.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades notably. Low settings maintain 44 FPS average, which is playable but not smooth. Medium settings produce 33 FPS average (range 28 to 38 FPS), High settings drop to 25 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 18 FPS. None of these results meet the 60 FPS target, and even the 30 FPS minimum for console-like playability is only achieved with Low or Medium settings.

At 3840x2160, the configuration struggles to remain functional. Low settings yield 24 FPS average, Medium produces 18 FPS (range 15 to 20 FPS), High drops to 13 FPS, and Ultra falls to 10 FPS. These frame rates are below playable thresholds for most users, making 4K gaming impractical with this combination regardless of settings.

The progression across presets at each resolution follows a consistent pattern: Low is roughly 1.5x faster than Medium, which is roughly 1.3x faster than High, which is roughly 1.3x faster than Ultra. This consistent scaling suggests that the game's settings presets affect GPU load proportionally, with no single setting causing a disproportionate performance hit.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 3580 out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the configuration in the bottom 3.5% of all tested systems, despite featuring a high-end processor. The ranking reflects the GPU's severe limitation on overall performance, as the GTX 1650's 40th percentile GPU ranking drags down what would otherwise be a competitive system.

The disparity between the CPU's 84th percentile and GPU's 40th percentile rankings creates an imbalanced configuration. In games where the CPU is the primary bottleneck, this system would perform well above its overall ranking. However, Hitman 2's engine appears to be heavily GPU-dependent at the tested settings, meaning the processor's capabilities are largely wasted in this specific workload.

The combo's rank of 3580 out of 3711 indicates that most other tested configurations achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is expected given the GTX 1650's position at the bottom of the discrete GPU market. The nearest GPU rivals (AMD Radeon HD 8850M, Intel UHD Graphics 750, AMD Radeon R7 350, and Intel Arc A310) are all similarly low-performance parts, suggesting the GTX 1650 sits in a performance tier that is simply inadequate for Hitman 2 at higher resolutions or settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Hitman 2?

A: The only configuration achieving 60+ FPS is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces 69 FPS average. Medium settings at 1080p deliver 52 FPS, which is playable but not at the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this system run Hitman 2 at 4K resolution?

A: No. The best 4K result is 24 FPS average at Low settings, with Ultra settings dropping to 10 FPS. These frame rates are below playable thresholds for most users.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 84th percentile and provides far more processing capability than needed. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, ranking in the 40th percentile, is the limiting component in every measurement.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This configuration ranks 3580 out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 3.5% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Low settings produce 69 FPS average, while Ultra settings produce 29 FPS average, representing a 58% performance reduction for the highest quality preset.

Q: Does increasing resolution affect performance proportionally across all settings?

A: Yes, the data shows consistent percentage drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p (approximately 36% reduction) and from 1440p to 4K (approximately 48% reduction), regardless of the settings preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves 69 FPS average. This is the only preset that meets the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. Players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate may consider Medium settings at 1080p, which produces 52 FPS average with a range of 44 to 60 FPS, but this comes with a 25% performance penalty compared to Low.

For users who cannot tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS, Low settings at 1080p is the only viable option. Those willing to accept 30-50 FPS can use Medium settings at 1080p or Low settings at 1440p (44 FPS average). High settings at 1080p (39 FPS) and Medium at 1440p (33 FPS) are marginal, while Ultra at any resolution and all 4K presets are below acceptable playability thresholds.

The Ultra preset provides only marginal visual improvements over High settings while exacting a 26% performance penalty at 1080p (29 FPS vs 39 FPS). This trade-off is rarely worthwhile on this hardware. Similarly, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 25% performance (69 to 52 FPS) for what is typically a moderate visual improvement in this game genre, which emphasizes stealth and observation over graphical spectacle.

Given the GPU's 4 GB VRAM capacity and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth, texture-heavy settings are likely to cause additional performance issues beyond what the average FPS numbers indicate. The min FPS of 44 at 1080p Medium suggests occasional drops that could affect gameplay in crowded scenes. Users should prioritize stable frame rates over maximum visual fidelity with this configuration.