Hitman 2

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 produces a severely GPU-bound experience in Hitman 2, as evidenced by the measured FPS data. This is a combination where the processor's immense headroom is wasted by the graphics card's limitations, particularly at higher resolutions and detail settings. The data indicates that this combo is only viable for playable frame rates at 1080p with reduced settings, making it a poor match for a game that demands more graphics muscle.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes it clear that the "Ultra" preset is not a realistic option for this combo under any resolution. At 1080p, Ultra yields an average of 29 FPS, which falls below the threshold for smooth, responsive gameplay in a stealth title where precision is key. Similarly, the "High" preset at 1080p produces an average of 39 FPS, which is borderline but still leaves little margin for error during crowded or action-heavy sequences.

The most practical setting for a playable experience is Low at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 70 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire measured set that approaches what most builders would consider a solid frame rate. The Medium preset at 1080p also warrants consideration, offering an average of 52 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS. While not as smooth as Low, Medium provides a better visual balance and stays above the 40 FPS mark, which is acceptable for a slower-paced stealth game.

At 1440p, the situation deteriorates sharply. The Low preset averages 45 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, while Medium drops to 33 FPS (min 28, max 38), and High falls to 25 FPS. Given the data, 1440p should only be attempted with the Low preset if the user prioritizes resolution over visual fidelity. At 4K, all settings produce unplayable results, with the highest average being 24 FPS on Low and the lowest being 10 FPS on Ultra. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p and use Low or Medium. The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 18 FPS on average, a substantial hit that may not be worth the visual gain for competitive or high-precision play.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, but the data shows that this is insufficient for Hitman 2's demands beyond low settings. The GPU's architecture, GCN 4.0 on a 14 nm process, features 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost clock of 1244 MHz, delivering an FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS.

The benchmark results from the FACT PACK indicate that this GPU sits at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28766. It performs within a narrow band of its nearest rivals: it is 0.4% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 6800M, 0.7% faster than the AMD Radeon R9 M295X, 0.8% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 470, and 1.2% faster than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000. This positional data confirms that the RX 570 is an entry-level performer in the current landscape, and Hitman 2's measured FPS reflects that standing.

The GPU's memory configuration is a critical factor. With only 4 GB of VRAM, the card likely struggles with texture data and shader complexity at higher presets. The measured FPS drop from Low to High at 1080p (70 to 39 FPS) suggests that the card is not just fill-rate limited but also constrained by memory capacity and bandwidth. The 7 Gbps effective memory speed and 256-bit bus are decent for its class, but they cannot compensate for the lack of raw compute power when the game demands more detailed geometry and effects.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and AMD Radeon RX 570 ranks 3544 out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the bottom 5% of all configurations, which is a stark indicator of how poorly the GPU holds back the CPU. The data shows that this is not a balanced pairing; the CPU is a top-tier part while the GPU is a legacy entry-level model.

In practical terms, this ranking means that almost any other combination of hardware would yield better results in this game. The CPU's high percentile ranking (89th vs all CPUs) and strong synthetic benchmarks—such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and a single-core score of 2116—are completely negated by the GPU's 74th percentile ranking. The bottleneck is so severe that the CPU's capabilities are irrelevant to the final frame rate. The combo rank of 3544 out of 3711 suggests that users would need to drastically lower settings and resolution to achieve playability, which is a poor trade-off given the CPU's potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this combo performs across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the results are:

• Ultra: Average 29 FPS.
• High: Average 39 FPS.
• Medium: Average 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 60 FPS.
• Low: Average 70 FPS.

The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline of roughly 10-13 FPS per step, indicating that each preset tier adds a significant load to the GPU. The Medium setting's minimum of 44 FPS shows that even mid-range settings can cause drops during intense scenes.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Ultra: Average 19 FPS.
• High: Average 25 FPS.
• Medium: Average 33 FPS, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 38 FPS.
• Low: Average 45 FPS.

The shift from 1080p to 1440p reveals a consistent reduction in performance across all settings. The Low preset loses 25 FPS (from 70 to 45), while Ultra loses 10 FPS (from 29 to 19). The percentage drop is steeper at lower settings, which suggests that the GPU is becoming more pixel-bound as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Ultra: Average 10 FPS.
• High: Average 13 FPS.
• Medium: Average 18 FPS, with a minimum of 15 FPS and a maximum of 20 FPS.
• Low: Average 24 FPS.

At 4K, all settings are unplayable. The Low preset's 24 FPS is the only double-digit average, and even that is far below acceptable levels. The Medium setting's maximum of 20 FPS highlights the GPU's inability to handle the pixel count at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and dramatic scaling of performance as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 70. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 45 FPS, a reduction of 35.7%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 24 FPS, a 65.7% drop from the 1080p baseline.

This scaling pattern is a classic sign of a GPU-bound system. The CPU is not the limiting factor; if it were, the FPS would remain relatively stable across resolutions because the CPU workload does not change significantly with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops in near proportion to the increase in pixel count, which indicates that the RX 570's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated.

The scaling is even more pronounced at higher settings. For example, at 1080p Medium, the average is 52 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 33 FPS (36.5% reduction), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 18 FPS (65.4% reduction from 1080p). This consistent pattern across settings confirms that the GPU is the sole bottleneck. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 24 threads boosting up to 5.40 GHz, has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions, but the GPU simply cannot render frames fast enough to utilize that headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a high-end processor that is vastly overqualified for this pairing in Hitman 2. It features 16 cores (8 performance and 8 efficiency) and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory indicate a powerful part. The CPU's synthetic benchmarks are excellent, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 19429 and a single-core score of 2529. It also scores 45887 in Passmark's multithread test and 4333 in single-thread.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, which is 0.3% faster. It is 0.5% faster than both the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and the Intel Xeon w3-2535. This positioning shows that the i7-13700K is competitively placed among the best CPUs available, and its performance is not a limiting factor in this game.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and draw calls. Given the low FPS numbers, the CPU is likely idling or underutilized while the GPU struggles. The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking; if the CPU were the limit, we would expect to see better FPS at 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lowest, but the 70 FPS average still falls short of what this CPU could drive with a stronger GPU. The conclusion is that the i7-13700K is a wasted resource in this combo for this specific game, and any performance gains would require a more capable graphics card.