Hitman 2

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 lands in the 1256th position out of 1795 tested combinations for Hitman 2, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This ranking reflects a configuration that is heavily skewed toward CPU capability, but the GPU becomes the decisive bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings, preventing the combo from achieving top-tier status in this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1256 out of 1795 places it in the 30th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 70% of combinations deliver higher average frame rates in Hitman 2. This is a mediocre result for a modern desktop platform, and the data suggests the pairing is fundamentally unbalanced for this game. The CPU is a top-tier performer — its average benchmark score of 35355 puts it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs — while the GPU, with an average score of 20258, sits in only the 63rd percentile of all GPUs. That gap in relative standing is the root cause of the combo’s middling rank.

The nearest CPU rivals show just how tightly grouped this processor is at the top. The Intel Core i5-14400 scores 35336, a mere 0.1% behind, while the Intel Core i9-12900HX is 0.2% ahead at 35289. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the CPU is not the limiting factor here. Instead, the GPU’s standing relative to its own rivals tells a more telling story: the RX 7600 trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile by 1.3% and the Intel Arc B570 by 1.5%, yet it edges out the RX 7600 XT by 0.6%. This clustering suggests the GPU is a mid-pack performer, and in a CPU-light game like Hitman 2, that mid-pack GPU drags the whole combo down.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, fabricated on a 6 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units, along with 32 ray tracing cores. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. Clock speeds are substantial: a base of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2250 MHz, and a boost of 2655 MHz. The pixel rate is 169.9 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 339.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 21.75 TFLOPS.

In Hitman 2, these specifications translate to a clear pattern: the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K and at higher quality presets. The measured FPS data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 49.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 23.1 FPS. This is a GPU-bound scenario where the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit bus limit performance. The card’s 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs reinforces that this is a mainstream part, not a high-end solution, and Hitman 2’s dense environments and crowd simulations demand more from the renderer than this GPU can consistently deliver at high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The data points to 1080p as the only resolution where this combo provides a consistently playable experience across all presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 146 FPS, Medium reaches 108.4 FPS, and High delivers 81.5 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 58.8 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p is the sweet spot: it delivers over 100 FPS while maintaining a meaningful upgrade over Low.

At 1440p, the situation becomes more precarious. High settings produce 52.4 FPS, which is playable but not smooth for a stealth title where quick reactions matter. Low settings at 1440p hit 94.9 FPS, but that requires sacrificing most visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 71.1 FPS, which is acceptable. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS; the best is Low at 49.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 23.1 FPS. The recommendation is clear: for a locked 60 FPS experience, stick to 1080p with Medium or High settings, or accept 1440p with Low or Medium if resolution is prioritized over detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates scale predictably with settings. Low produces 146 FPS, Medium 108.4 FPS, High 81.5 FPS, and Ultra 58.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 37.6 FPS, from Medium to High is 26.9 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 22.7 FPS. This shows diminishing returns as settings increase, with each step costing roughly 25-30% performance.

At 2560x1440, the numbers shift downward significantly. Low yields 94.9 FPS, which is a 35% drop from 1080p Low. Medium produces 71.1 FPS, High 52.4 FPS, and Ultra 38.8 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra widens here — a 13.6 FPS difference — indicating that Ultra settings place a disproportionate load on the GPU at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance collapses. Low manages 49.9 FPS, Medium 38 FPS, High 28.2 FPS, and Ultra 23.1 FPS. None of these are suitable for competitive play, and even the Low preset struggles to maintain 50 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is effectively unplayable, delivering less than half the frame rate of the same preset at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU as the limiting component. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (81.5 FPS) to 1440p (52.4 FPS) is a 35.7% reduction, and from 1440p to 4K (28.2 FPS) is another 46.2% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 65.4%, which is close to what would be expected if the GPU were the sole bottleneck, given the 4x pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly better: 1080p (146 FPS) to 1440p (94.9 FPS) is a 35% drop, and 1440p to 4K (49.9 FPS) is a 47.4% drop. The fact that Low settings still show a substantial drop at 4K confirms the GPU is saturated even at minimal graphical load. This pattern — where the percentage drop is similar across presets — indicates that the RX 7600’s raw throughput, not memory bandwidth or VRAM capacity, is the primary constraint. The CPU, with its 89th percentile standing, is not the limiting factor here.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and uses PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes from the CPU. The socket is Intel Socket 1700, and the chip was released in November 2021.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is secondary but not negligible. The game is known for its CPU-heavy crowd and AI simulations, and this processor’s multi-threaded performance is exceptional. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28979 and Passmark multi-thread score of 34092 place it in the top tier. The single-thread performance is also strong, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2526 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3984. This ensures that even in scenes with many NPCs, the CPU can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck.

The benchmark data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 146 FPS, which is a high enough frame rate that most CPUs would start to limit. Yet the CPU’s 89th percentile ranking and its nearest rivals — all within 0.3% of its average score — suggest it is more than capable of handling the game’s logic. The combo’s low rank is not a CPU problem; it is a GPU problem, as evidenced by the fact that the CPU’s standing is nearly 30 percentile points higher than the GPU’s.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Hitman 2 at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p. The Low preset hits 146 FPS, Medium hits 108.4 FPS, and High hits 81.5 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (94.9 FPS) and Medium (71.1 FPS) exceed 60 FPS. At 4K, no preset reaches 60 FPS; the best is Low at 49.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this combo?

A: At 1080p, Medium is the sweet spot, delivering 108.4 FPS while offering a significant visual upgrade over Low. At 1440p, Medium at 71.1 FPS is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS. Ultra should be avoided at any resolution above 1080p, as it drops to 38.8 FPS at 1440p and 23.1 FPS at 4K.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7600 has an average benchmark score of 20258. It is 0.6% ahead of the RX 7600 XT (20146) and 0.8% ahead of the RX 460 (20088), but it trails the RTX 3070 Mobile by 1.3% and the Arc B570 by 1.5%. These are all very close scores, indicating the GPU is a mid-pack performer.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At High settings, FPS drops from 81.5 at 1080p to 28.2 at 4K, a 65.4% reduction. The CPU, with an 89th percentile ranking, is not the constraint; the GPU’s 63rd percentile standing is the weak link.

Q: What are the key specifications of the CPU?

A: The i7-12700KF has 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It includes 25 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its average benchmark score is 35355, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The RX 7600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The memory clock is 2250 MHz, which translates to 18 Gbps effective. This configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but limits performance at 4K.