Hitman 2

The pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700K with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT produces a set of Hitman 2 benchmark results that clearly delineate the strengths and limits of each component. At 1080p, the system demonstrates exceptional headroom, delivering triple-digit frame rates at most settings, while the transition to 4K reveals a significant bottleneck that shifts the performance profile entirely. The data indicates a system that is exceptionally well-balanced for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, but one that will require compromises at 4K to maintain playable frame rates. The measured FPS values across the resolution and settings matrix provide a comprehensive look at how this specific hardware combination scales under varying graphical loads.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the system’s limits lie. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 104.2 FPS, which is a strong result for a stealth title that benefits from smooth camera panning. Moving to 1440p at the same High setting, the average FPS drops to 66.9, representing a reduction of approximately 36%. This is a substantial hit, but the frame rate remains well within the playable range for a genre that prioritizes precision over twitch reflexes.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing. At 4K with High settings, the average FPS plummets to 33.4, which is a 50% drop from the 1440p result. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, placing an immense load on the Radeon RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB of VRAM and 432.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The data suggests that while the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the graphics card simply cannot sustain the fill rate required at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to just 24.1.

The pattern across all settings reinforces this analysis. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 179.5 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 61.3 FPS—a 66% reduction. This large delta between the lowest and highest resolutions indicates that the scaling is heavily dependent on the GPU’s rasterization throughput. The CPU’s 20 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock are more than sufficient to handle Hitman 2’s simulation and AI logic at 1080p, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance becomes the ceiling. The 4K Ultra result of 24.1 FPS is the clearest indicator that this configuration is not intended for maximum fidelity at 4K, as the GPU’s compute resources are overwhelmed by the combination of high pixel count and demanding visual effects.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6750 XT plays a pivotal role in shaping the benchmark results, particularly at higher resolutions where its specifications become the deciding factor. The GPU features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, which translate to a pixel rate of 166.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 416.0 GTexel/s. These figures explain why the card can handle 1080p and 1440p with relative ease, but they also reveal why 4K proves challenging. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for most 1440p workloads but becomes a constraint when pushing 4K textures and effects.

The clock speeds are notable for their aggressiveness. The GPU has a base clock of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz. This high boost clock is partly why the card outperforms its position in the broader GPU hierarchy, as it allows for sustained performance during long gaming sessions. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Medium, the card achieves 133.8 FPS, while at 1440p Medium it reaches 85.1 FPS. These numbers suggest that the GPU’s architecture, RDNA 2.0, is well-optimized for this game’s engine, which was released in 2018 and does not heavily utilize the card’s 40 ray accelerators.

The GPU’s position in the performance hierarchy is reinforced by its nearest rivals in the database. The data shows the RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327, placing it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 5600M, which has an average score of 35264, a delta of just 0.2%. This indicates that the desktop RX 6750 XT performs nearly identically to a mobile chip from the same architecture family, which underscores the efficiency of the 7 nm process node. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, a higher-tier card, scores 35787, a delta of -1.3%, meaning the RX 6750 XT trails it by a small margin in synthetic benchmarks, yet the real-world FPS differences in Hitman 2 are more pronounced due to driver optimizations and memory bandwidth constraints.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the computational backbone for this combo, and its influence is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully saturated. The CPU features 20 cores and 28 threads, a configuration that is overkill for a game like Hitman 2, which was designed for systems with far fewer cores. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensure that single-threaded performance is exceptional, which is critical for a stealth game that relies on complex AI routines and physics calculations. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 illustrate the CPU’s immense processing power, which allows it to avoid becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s strength is evident in the 1080p Low result of 179.5 FPS. This high frame rate is only achievable if the CPU can feed the GPU with draw calls quickly enough, and the i7-14700K’s 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help minimize memory latency. The Passmark single-thread score of 4472 further confirms that the CPU excels in tasks that require rapid instruction execution. However, at 4K Ultra, the CPU’s role diminishes, as the GPU’s rendering time dominates the frame time budget. The average FPS of 24.1 at 4K Ultra is not a reflection of CPU weakness but rather proof of the GPU’s inability to keep up with the pixel workload.

The CPU’s performance relative to its peers is also noteworthy. With an average benchmark score of 70074, the i7-14700K sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-14700KF, which scores 70104, a delta of 0%, indicating that the two chips are functionally identical in performance despite the KF variant lacking integrated graphics. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X scores 70420, a delta of -0.5%, meaning the i7-14700K is slightly behind AMD’s flagship in synthetic tests, yet in Hitman 2, the difference is negligible due to the game’s moderate CPU requirements. The data suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this combo, as even at 1080p High, the system achieves 104.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target most players would consider mandatory.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Hitman 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 179.5 at 1080p with Low settings. This demonstrates the system’s ability to produce extremely high frame rates when the graphical load is minimized, highlighting the CPU’s strength in feeding the GPU efficiently.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming with playable frame rates?

A: At 4K with High settings, the average FPS is 33.4, and at Ultra it drops to 24.1. While the 4K Low setting achieves 61.3 FPS, the data indicates that consistent 60 FPS at 4K is only possible on lower presets, making 4K a challenging resolution for this GPU.

Q: How does the RX 6750 XT compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3080?

A: In the database, the RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787, while the RX 6750 XT scores 35327, a delta of -1.3%. This means the RX 6750 XT trails the RTX 3080 by about 1.3% in synthetic tests, though real-world FPS in Hitman 2 may vary based on specific game optimizations.

Q: What is the CPU’s performance percentile among all processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074. This places it in the top tier of desktop processors, confirming that it is more than capable of supporting high-end gaming workloads.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The 1440p High setting delivers 66.9 FPS, which is a solid balance between image clarity and smoothness. For higher refresh rates, 1080p Medium achieves 133.8 FPS, while 1440p Low hits 118.1 FPS, both excellent options for competitive play.

Q: Is the GPU’s VRAM capacity sufficient for Hitman 2?

A: The RX 6750 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is more than adequate for this 2018 title. Even at 4K Ultra, the game’s texture requirements are unlikely to exceed this capacity, though the GPU’s compute limitations, not VRAM, are what prevent higher frame rates at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data provides a granular view of performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak capabilities: Low settings produce an average of 179.5 FPS, Medium achieves 133.8 FPS, High reaches 104.2 FPS, and Ultra settles at 73.4 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is GPU-bound only at Ultra, where the 73.4 FPS still provides a smooth experience for a stealth game, but the lower presets are clearly CPU-limited, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the graphical settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are consistent but manageable. Low settings yield 118.1 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings achieve 85.1 FPS, High settings produce 66.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 47.8 FPS. The 1440p results show a more balanced workload between CPU and GPU, as the frame rate differences between settings become more pronounced, indicating that the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor. The 47.8 FPS at Ultra is the first sub-60 result in the 1440p range, suggesting that players seeking 60 FPS at this resolution should stick to High settings or lower.

At 3840x2160, the GPU’s limitations are fully exposed. Low settings achieve 61.3 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but Medium drops to 46 FPS, High falls to 33.4 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 24.1 FPS. The steep decline from Low to Ultra at 4K highlights the GPU’s inability to handle the increased pixel count and shader complexity. The 4K Low result of 61.3 FPS is the only playable option for smooth gaming at this resolution, while the 4K Ultra result of 24.1 FPS is barely playable and indicates that this combo is not suited for maximum fidelity 4K gaming. The data overall points to 1440p High as the sweet spot for this pairing, offering 66.9 FPS with a good balance of visual fidelity and performance.