Hitman 2

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a playable but demanding experience in Hitman 2, with the 8 GB VRAM and 1605 MHz base clock of the GPU acting as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the combination is firmly CPU-bound at low settings, reaching 159 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 67 FPS, showing the GPU’s Turing architecture struggling with the game’s highest visual demands. The data indicates that this combo ranks 2158th out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier for this title, a position driven more by the GPU’s age than the CPU’s substantial 20-core, 28-thread configuration.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Hitman 2?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the most viable resolution, with an average of 90 FPS at High settings and 120 FPS at Medium. At 2560x1440, High settings still reach 58 FPS, but the 3840x2160 resolution struggles, with even Low settings only managing 54 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER perform relative to its closest rivals?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 20282, placing it 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582) and 1.3% behind the Intel Arc B570 (20556). It sits 1.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and is 1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480).

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck for this game?

A: The i7-14700F is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. With a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a multi-core score of 35122 in Cinebench R23, it provides ample headroom. The performance drop from 159 FPS (Low) to 67 FPS (Ultra) at 1080p shows the GPU becoming the bottleneck as settings increase.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 102 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 43 FPS. This represents a 59 FPS difference, indicating that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the game’s Ultra preset at this resolution.

Q: Does the game favor single-core or multi-core CPU performance?

A: The data suggests the game benefits from both, but the CPU’s single-core strength (4958 in Cinebench R23) is more relevant for maintaining high FPS at 1080p. The multi-core score of 35122 ensures the 20 cores handle background tasks without impacting frame pacing.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?*

A: Barely. At 3840x2160, Medium settings average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, while Low settings reach 54 FPS. Ultra settings are not viable at 23 FPS, making 4K playable only at Low to Medium presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the decisive component in this pairing for Hitman 2, and the measured FPS data reflects its Turing architecture’s limits. With a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, the GPU’s raw compute is capped at 9.062 TFLOPS FP32, which directly translates to the frame rates seen across the resolution spectrum. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that becomes a critical bottleneck when the game’s assets scale with resolution.

At 1920x1080, the GPU’s role is less taxing. The Low preset averages 159 FPS, indicating that the RTX 2070 SUPER has sufficient fill rate (113.3 GPixel/s) and texture rate (283.2 GTexel/s) to feed frames quickly. However, ramping to Ultra at the same resolution drops the average to 67 FPS, a 58% reduction, which points to the 64 ROPs and 2560 shading units being overwhelmed by the game’s draw calls and lighting effects. The 2:1 FP16 ratio (18.12 TFLOPS) does not appear to provide any advantage in this title, as the game’s engine likely relies on FP32 paths.

The GPU’s 65th percentile rank among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 20282 (1.5% behind the Intel Arc A750) suggest it is a mid-range card by modern standards. In Hitman 2, this translates to a 4K experience that is only playable at Low settings (54 FPS) or Medium with dips to 35 FPS. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present on the chip, but the game’s release in 2018 predates any meaningful ray tracing implementation, so these units remain idle, meaning the card’s traditional rasterization performance is the sole driver of results.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and reveals a clear GPU limitation. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 159 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 54 at 4K (a 47% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is memory-bandwidth constrained; the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient to feed the increased pixel count at 4K, causing the frame rate to nearly halve at each step up in resolution.

At Medium settings, the trend is similar but with a more pronounced cliff. The 1080p average of 120 FPS drops to 76 FPS at 1440p (a 37% loss) and then to 41 FPS at 4K (a 46% loss from 1440p). The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 35, which suggests occasional stutter as the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM approaches capacity with the game’s texture streaming. In contrast, the High preset shows a slightly different pattern: 90 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p (a 36% loss), and 31 FPS at 4K (a 47% loss). This consistency across presets indicates that the resolution scaling is governed by the GPU’s pixel throughput rather than the specific settings.

The Ultra preset is the outlier, with 67 FPS at 1080p dropping to 43 FPS at 1440p (a 36% loss) and 23 FPS at 4K (a 47% loss). The fact that the percentage loss is nearly identical across all presets suggests that the limiting component is the GPU’s overall compute capacity, not any single setting. The data points to a system where the i7-14700F’s 5.40 GHz boost clock is never the bottleneck at higher resolutions; instead, the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 9.062 TFLOPS and 8 GB memory are the sole constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2070 SUPER produces playable results only at the Low preset, averaging 54 FPS. Medium settings drop to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS, indicating unstable frame pacing. High settings average 31 FPS, which is borderline unplayable, while Ultra averages 23 FPS, effectively a slideshow. The 4K data strongly suggests that this resolution is beyond the card’s design intent for this game.

At 2560x1440, the picture improves significantly. Low settings average 102 FPS, providing a smooth experience for competitive play. Medium settings average 76 FPS with a minimum of 65 FPS and a maximum of 88 FPS, which is the sweet spot for most users seeking a balance between visual quality and responsiveness. High settings average 58 FPS, which is acceptable for a stealth game, but Ultra drops to 43 FPS, making it a poor choice for consistent performance.

At 1920x1080, the combo excels. Low settings average 159 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. Medium settings average 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 137 FPS, offering a high-refresh experience without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. High settings average 90 FPS, which is excellent for AAA gaming, while Ultra averages 67 FPS, providing a playable but not silky-smooth experience. The 1080p results confirm that the i7-14700F’s single-core performance (4958 in Cinebench R23) is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best experience in Hitman 2 for this combo. With an average of 120 FPS and a minimum of 102 FPS, it provides a high-refresh experience that is both fluid and visually detailed. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p only costs 30 FPS (down to 90), but the improvement in visual fidelity is marginal for a stealth game where framerate consistency matters more than shadow quality. For users with 144 Hz monitors, the Medium preset at 1080p is the clear choice.

For those prioritizing visual quality over raw speed, the High preset at 2560x1440 (58 FPS) is the best option. It keeps the frame rate above the 50 FPS threshold for playability while offering a sharper image than 1080p. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the 67 FPS at 1080p and 43 FPS at 1440p do not justify the visual gains, and the 4K Ultra result of 23 FPS is unplayable. At 4K, the Low preset (54 FPS) is the only viable choice, but users should be prepared for significant visual compromises.

The data indicates that the Medium preset at 1440p (76 FPS) is a strong alternative for those who want more screen real estate. It offers a 35% higher frame rate than High at the same resolution, and the minimum FPS of 65 ensures that drops are rare. For users with adaptive sync displays, the Medium preset at 1440p is a superior choice to the High preset at 1080p, as it provides a 20% higher frame rate (76 vs 90) with a higher resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a powerhouse that exerts minimal influence on Hitman 2’s frame rates, as evidenced by the data. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities (35122 in Cinebench R23) are vastly overprovisioned for a game that relies on a few main threads. The base clock of 2.10 GHz is low, but the boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that the single-core performance (4958 in Cinebench R23) is sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, where the Low preset achieves 159 FPS.

The CPU’s 91st percentile rank among all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 53620 (0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X) demonstrate that it is not a limiting factor. In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame pacing, which it does admirably. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide ample bandwidth for the game’s AI and physics calculations, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is always the bottleneck.

At 4K, the CPU’s influence is negligible, as the frame rates are governed entirely by the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Even at 1080p Ultra, where the GPU is heavily loaded, the CPU’s 5.40 GHz boost clock ensures that the 67 FPS average is not limited by processor throughput. The data suggests that users could pair this CPU with a faster GPU to push higher frame rates, but with the RTX 2070 SUPER, the i7-14700F is left with significant headroom, as evidenced by the 159 FPS at Low settings, which is likely close to the game’s engine limit rather than a CPU constraint.