Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core i7-12700KF + AMD Radeon RX 7700

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a distinctive performance profile in Hitman 2, one that shifts character dramatically depending on resolution and quality settings. The combo ranks 1371st out of 3001 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems evaluated for this title. Across the measured resolution range, the data reveals a system that excels at 1080p and 1440p but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K on high presets. The 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake processor and the 16 GB RDNA 3.0 graphics card each contribute to a balanced pairing, though the bottleneck clearly migrates between CPU and GPU as resolution scales.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a steep and consistent performance drop across all settings, indicating that the graphics card becomes the primary limiting component as pixel count rises. At Low settings, average frame rates fall from 182 FPS at 1920x1080 to 116 FPS at 2560x1440, a 36% reduction, then further down to 62 FPS at 3840x2160 — a 66% total decline from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern suggests the RX 7700's rendering throughput, not the CPU's processing capacity, is the constraining factor at higher resolutions.

The High preset tells a similar story with slightly different magnitudes. Average FPS drops from 103 at 1080p to 66 at 1440p (a 36% decrease) and then to 35 at 4K (a 66% total reduction). The near-identical percentage drops between Low and High presets across resolution steps imply that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed proportionally regardless of visual complexity. With a 256-bit memory bus and 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, the RX 7700 has substantial headroom at 1080p, but the 4K pixel count — four times that of 1080p — overwhelms the card's 236.1 GPixel/s pixel rate.

Ultra settings produce the most dramatic scaling curve, starting at 76 FPS at 1080p, falling to 49 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and collapsing to 26 FPS at 4K (a 66% total decline). The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets is notable — it suggests that Hitman 2's resolution scaling is largely independent of the quality preset chosen, with the GPU's raw pixel throughput being the dominant factor. The 4K Ultra result of 26 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, while even 4K Medium at 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS would test player patience during crowded stealth sequences.

Interestingly, the CPU's role appears secondary in this scaling analysis. The i7-12700KF's single-thread score of 1043 in 3DMark and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 indicate ample processing headroom for a game released in 2018. The fact that 1080p Low hits 182 FPS — a frame rate that would stress many CPUs — without the processor becoming the bottleneck further confirms that the RX 7700 is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1920x1080, all four presets deliver playable average frame rates, but the choice depends on the target refresh rate. Medium settings produce 136 FPS average with a minimum of 116 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 100 Hz refresh rates while maintaining solid visual quality. High settings at 103 FPS average would suit a 100 Hz display, while those with 144 Hz monitors would need to consider the 182 FPS Low preset or accept the 76 FPS Ultra setting.

At 2560x1440, the trade-offs become more pronounced. High settings deliver 66 FPS average, which is smooth for most players, while Medium achieves 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS — this appears to be the sweet spot for 1440p gaming on this hardware. The Low preset's 116 FPS is impressive but sacrifices too much visual detail for the modest gain over Medium. Ultra at 49 FPS is borderline; the 36% penalty over High may not justify the visual improvements in a stealth game where frame rate consistency matters for precise aiming and movement.

For 3840x2160, the recommendations are constrained by the hardware's limits. Medium settings at 46 FPS with a 39 FPS minimum is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, though it would test the patience of competitive players. Low at 62 FPS is technically the smoothest 4K option, but the graphical compromises are severe. High at 35 FPS and Ultra at 26 FPS are below the threshold for acceptable gameplay in a genre that rewards responsive controls. Players targeting 4K should strongly consider Medium or Low, or alternatively reduce resolution to 1440p and enjoy the High or Medium presets at far more comfortable frame rates.

The data also reveals that the step from Medium to High costs roughly 24-29% of performance across all resolutions, while the step from High to Ultra costs an additional 32-35%. This nonlinear scaling suggests diminishing returns at the Ultra tier, where the visual enhancements may not justify the frame rate penalty.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700's specifications paint a picture of a mid-range card with substantial memory resources. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is generous for a game from 2018. The card's base clock of 1900 MHz and boost clock of 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz, give it a theoretical FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS. These specs support the observed performance pattern: strong at 1080p and 1440p, but insufficient for high-refresh 4K gaming.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014, 1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129, 1.7% faster), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679, 1.1% slower). These close margins suggest the RX 7700 sits in a competitive performance tier, trading blows with cards from previous generations. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 and Passmark G3D score of 20974 provide additional context for its DirectX 12 capabilities, which are relevant for Hitman 2's modern rendering pipeline.

The 40 ray tracing cores and 96 ROPs contribute to the card's ability to handle the game's lighting and shadow effects, though the game's 2018 release date means ray tracing was not a primary design consideration. The 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units process the game's detailed environments efficiently at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show where the card's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor. The memory configuration — 16 GB GDDR6 at 19.5 Gbps effective — ensures that texture loading and streaming never become a bottleneck, as evidenced by the consistent minimum frame rates at Medium settings across resolutions.

Interestingly, the GPU's percentile ranking (58th) is notably lower than the CPU's (85th), suggesting that this pairing may be somewhat CPU-heavy in general workloads. However, in Hitman 2 specifically, the game's engine appears to leverage the GPU's capabilities effectively at lower resolutions while exposing its limitations at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i7-12700KF and RX 7700 achieves a rank of 1371 out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 54th percentile of all systems tested. This mid-pack ranking reflects the GPU's modest position in the performance hierarchy — the CPU is capable of much higher frame rates, but the graphics card limits overall system performance in this title. The ranking suggests that many combinations with lower-tier CPUs but higher-tier GPUs would outperform this pairing, particularly at 4K where the GPU is the clear bottleneck.

The CPU's individual standing is much stronger. With an average benchmark score of 35365, the i7-12700KF sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, 0.1% faster), the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, 0.2% faster), and the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, 0.2% slower) — all within a fraction of a percent of each other. The CPU's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and Passmark multithread score of 34092, provides substantial headroom for Hitman 2's CPU demands.

The GPU's ranking is more modest at the 58th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 15852. This discrepancy between CPU and GPU percentiles explains why the combo's overall rank (54th percentile) aligns more closely with the GPU's position than the CPU's. For Hitman 2, which can scale well with GPU performance at higher resolutions, the system's rank would likely improve at 1080p and worsen at 4K compared to the aggregate ranking.

The 3001-combo pool provides a broad comparison context. Being in the upper half of all tested systems is respectable, though the data suggests that players seeking maximum frame rates in Hitman 2 would benefit more from upgrading the GPU than the CPU, given the processor's substantial headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF brings formidable processing power to this pairing. Its 12 cores and 20 threads, based on the Alder Lake architecture, provide a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core ensure that game data is readily accessible, while the 10 nm process node and 125 W TDP balance performance with power efficiency. The CPU's benchmark results confirm its strength: a 3DMark max threads score of 9983, Geekbench multicore score of 14367, and Passmark integer math score of 113521 all indicate robust multi-threaded capability.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but its single-thread performance is crucial for maintaining high frame rates at 1080p. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071 demonstrate strong per-core performance that supports the 182 FPS Low preset result at 1080p. The 20 threads ensure that background tasks and game logic don't create stutters, as evidenced by the consistent minimum frame rates at Medium settings (116 FPS minimum at 1080p, 74 FPS at 1440p, 39 FPS at 4K).

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the i7-13700T, i5-13600T, and Core 5 213PE, all within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF's average score. This tight clustering indicates that the i7-12700KF remains competitive with newer mid-range processors. However, the data suggests that the CPU's capabilities are underutilized in this game at higher resolutions — the 4K frame rates are so GPU-limited that the CPU's headroom goes unused.

The CPU's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel configuration, provides flexibility for system builders. The PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 CPU lanes ensures the RX 7700 can communicate at full bandwidth via PCIe 4.0 x16. The unlocked multiplier allows overclocking, though the stock boost clock of 5.00 GHz already provides strong performance for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low settings achieve 182 FPS average, the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 136 FPS average with a minimum of 116 FPS and maximum of 157 FPS, providing a smooth experience for high-refresh-rate displays. High settings reach 103 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 76 FPS average. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 58% performance reduction, reflecting the increasing graphical demands of higher quality presets.

At 2560x1440, performance remains solid but shows the expected decline. Low settings deliver 116 FPS average, a 36% drop from 1080p. Medium settings achieve 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 100 FPS, maintaining playability for most users. High settings produce 66 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 49 FPS average. The relative ordering remains consistent, with each preset step costing approximately 24-29% performance.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings achieve 62 FPS average, which is playable but represents a 66% drop from 1080p. Medium settings produce 46 FPS average with a minimum of 39 FPS and maximum of 53 FPS, providing a marginal experience. High settings drop to 35 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 26 FPS average — both below acceptable thresholds for smooth gameplay. The 4K results show that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for less demanding titles or lower quality presets.

The minimum frame rates at Medium settings across all resolutions (116 FPS at 1080p, 74 FPS at 1440p, 39 FPS at 4K) indicate consistent performance without severe frame time spikes. The maximum frame rates (157 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, 53 FPS at 4K) show that the system can burst to higher performance in less demanding scenes, but the averages reflect the sustained load of Hitman 2's detailed environments.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 with Medium settings delivers 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum, offering the best balance of visual quality and smooth gameplay. At 1920x1080, Medium settings achieve 136 FPS average with a 116 FPS minimum for higher refresh rates. 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings, with 62 FPS and 46 FPS respectively.

Q: How does this system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system achieves only 26 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. This represents a 66% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result of 76 FPS and clearly indicates the RX 7700 is the limiting component at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Hitman 2?

A: The bottleneck shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is primarily limiting, as shown by the 182 FPS Low result. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the constraint, with frame rates dropping to 26-62 FPS regardless of the CPU's substantial headroom. The i7-12700KF's 85th percentile CPU ranking versus the RX 7700's 58th percentile GPU ranking supports this interpretation.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1371st out of 3001 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier. The GPU's nearest rivals include the RTX 3060 Ti (1.7% faster) and RX 9060 (1% faster), while the CPU's rivals are all within 0.2% of its performance.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows 103 FPS average at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is suitable for 100 Hz displays and represents a 26% reduction from Medium settings' 136 FPS, but a 35% improvement over Ultra's 76 FPS.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM provide any advantage in this game?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth ensures texture streaming is never a bottleneck, as evidenced by consistent minimum frame rates across resolutions. However, Hitman 2's 2018 release date means it likely doesn't fully utilize this capacity, and the GPU's compute throughput remains the limiting factor at higher resolutions.