Hitman 2

The pairing of Intel’s Core i7-14700F with AMD’s Radeon RX 5700 XT in Hitman 2 produces a clear pattern: this is a system where the GPU dictates the experience at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s headroom only becomes apparent when the load is lightened. The measured data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs, and the benchmark results suggest the RX 5700 XT is the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a straightforward story about which component is limiting performance. At Low settings, the system delivers 140.3 FPS at 1920x1080, but this falls to 92.4 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 34% reduction. Pushing to 3840x2160, the average collapses to 48.2 FPS, which is only 34% of the 1080p figure. This steep, consistent decline is the signature of a GPU-bound workload, where the Radeon RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the increasing pixel count.

The pattern repeats across all settings presets. For High settings, the transition from 81.7 FPS at 1080p to 52.7 FPS at 1440p represents a 35.5% drop, and then to 26.7 FPS at 4K — a further 49% decline. Ultra settings are even more punishing: 58 FPS at 1080p, 37.3 FPS at 1440p, and just 20 FPS at 4K. The scaling between 1440p and 4K is particularly severe, with average losses of roughly 45-50% across all presets. This suggests that the RX 5700 XT simply does not have the raw throughput to handle 4K rendering in Hitman 2, regardless of the visual fidelity selected.

What is notable is that the scaling is remarkably consistent across settings, which points to a purely resolution-driven limitation rather than a texture or shading bottleneck. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is still providing enough frames to keep the GPU busy, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s compute units — 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs — become the limiting factor. The 121.9 GPixel/s pixel rate and 304.8 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for 4K workloads.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a 7 nm process from TSMC, featuring 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. Its clock behavior is interesting: the base clock sits at 1605 MHz, but the game clock is rated at 1755 MHz, with a boost up to 1905 MHz. In Hitman 2, these clocks appear to be the ceiling for performance, as the measured FPS aligns closely with what the GPU’s theoretical peak output would suggest.

With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest VRAM capacity is not the issue — bandwidth is. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 20 FPS, which is a clear sign that the GPU is thrashing through memory transactions. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is the same across all resolutions, so the degradation is purely from the increased data volume per frame.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (0.1% slower), Intel Arc A350M (0.3% faster), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (0.6% faster). This tight grouping indicates the RX 5700 XT is a mid-pack performer, and Hitman 2’s results reflect that positioning. The DirectX 12 score of 64 and DirectX 11 score of 116 from PassMark suggest the GPU handles older APIs better than modern ones, which may explain why Hitman 2 (a 2018 title) performs as well as it does at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Is the RX 5700 XT capable of running Hitman 2 at 4K?

A: The data shows it is not viable for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, the average FPS is 26.7, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 20. Even at 4K Low, the system only manages 48.2 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target for most players.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system consistently exceeds 60 FPS across all presets. At 1080p Low, it hits 140.3 FPS, and even Ultra maintains 58 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 24731, sitting 0.1% below the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile and 0.6% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile. It is 0.3% faster than the Intel Arc A350M.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 140.3 FPS, which suggests the CPU is keeping up. However, the Core i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads, so its compute capacity is far beyond what Hitman 2 requires. The GPU is still the limiting factor, but the CPU is not holding it back at this resolution.

Q: What happens to performance when switching from Low to Ultra at 1440p?

A: The average FPS drops from 92.4 at Low to 37.3 at Ultra, a 60% reduction. This is a larger relative drop than at 1080p, where the same switch only reduces performance by 59% (from 140.3 to 58 FPS).

Q: Why is the 4K Ultra result so low (20 FPS)?

A: The GPU’s pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are insufficient for the 3840x2160 resolution at maximum settings. The 8 GB VRAM is also being strained, but the primary bottleneck is the raw compute throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1795 tested combinations, the Core i7-14700F + RX 5700 XT pairing ranks 1376th in Hitman 2. This places it in the bottom quarter of all combos, which is surprising given the CPU’s strength. The Core i7-14700F has a percentile of 94 among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 94% of processors, yet its pairing with the RX 5700 XT drags the overall ranking down.

The data implies that this combo is heavily GPU-limited. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 54097, with a PassMark multithread score of 41765 and a single-thread score of 4261. These are strong numbers, but they are irrelevant when the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough. The combo rank of 1376 suggests that other pairings with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs would score higher in this game.

The ranking also reflects the GPU’s position. With a percentile of 68 among all GPUs, the RX 5700 XT is an average performer, but Hitman 2’s specific demands on pixel throughput and memory bandwidth expose its limitations. The combo would likely rank higher in a CPU-bound title, but in Hitman 2, the GPU is the clear weak link.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings shows a wide spread. Low settings produce 140.3 FPS, Medium drops to 104.9 FPS, High yields 81.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 58 FPS. This represents a 59% reduction from Low to Ultra, indicating that the GPU scales predictably with graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 92.4 FPS at Low, 71.8 FPS at Medium, 52.7 FPS at High, and 37.3 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 60%, similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are lower across the board. This resolution is borderline playable for most settings, with only Low and Medium exceeding 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are 48.2 FPS at Low, 36.7 FPS at Medium, 26.7 FPS at High, and 20 FPS at Ultra. The Low to Ultra reduction is 58.5%, but the absolute numbers are too low for any serious gaming. Only the Low preset comes close to 60 FPS, and even that falls short by 20%.

The data pattern shows a consistent ~35% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further ~45-50% drop from 1440p to 4K, regardless of settings. This uniformity suggests the bottleneck is purely resolution-driven, not settings-driven.

Settings Recommendations

For a target of 60 FPS, the data shows that 1080p is the only viable resolution. At 1080p High, the system delivers 81.7 FPS, which is comfortably above 60. For players wanting higher fidelity, 1080p Ultra at 58 FPS is just below the threshold but still playable. At 1440p, only Low (92.4 FPS) and Medium (71.8 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while High and Ultra fall short.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1080p High, offering a balance of 81.7 FPS and visual quality. If smoothness is the priority, 1080p Low at 140.3 FPS is the maximum frame rate achievable. For 1440p users, Medium at 71.8 FPS is the recommended preset, as it stays above 60 FPS while providing better visuals than Low. At 4K, the data shows no preset achieves 60 FPS, so this resolution is not recommended for competitive or smooth play.

The settings scaling suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this GPU. At 1080p, it offers 104.9 FPS, which is 28% higher than High and only 25% lower than Low. At 1440p, Medium is 36% faster than High, making it the best compromise between fidelity and frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh family, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. It has 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core, which gives it substantial compute headroom. In Hitman 2, this CPU is never the limiting factor, as evidenced by the smooth scaling at 1080p where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its strength. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 35443, and its single-core score is 5003. Geekbench scores are 16571 multicore and 2711 single-core. These numbers place it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54097. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (0.6% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (1.1% faster), showing it is competitive with top-tier processors.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with enough draw calls and physics calculations. Given that the game is a stealth title with complex AI and crowd simulations, the 28 threads could be beneficial, but the measured FPS at 1080p Low (140.3 FPS) suggests the CPU is not being taxed. The fact that the GPU drops to 20 FPS at 4K Ultra while the CPU sits idle confirms the mismatch. This combo would be better served by a weaker CPU and a stronger GPU, but as measured, the i7-14700F is wasted potential in this specific pairing.