Hitman 2

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is a mainstream desktop combination that shows a stark contrast between strong CPU headroom and a GPU that struggles at higher resolutions. This tested pairing places rank 2018 out of 3711 combos in Hitman 2, which falls just below the midpoint of the database, meaning it outruns about half of the other tested setups. The i7-14700K brings 20 cores and 28 threads with a 3.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clock, while the RTX 4060 provides 8GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit bus. The measured FPS across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K shows utterly different behavior from Low to Ultra settings. The data indicates the processor is rarely the limiting factor, while the video card becomes obviously saturated at high resolutions and ultra settings. The i7-14700K carries a launch MSRP of $409, and the RTX 4060 has a launch MSRP of $299 USD.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the key factor in how this combo behaves in Hitman 2. With only 8GB of VRAM on a 128-bit bus, the card relies on a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz to keep frame rates moving, but the memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s is a hard ceiling at higher resolutions. That combination shows up directly in the data. At 3840x2160, the average FPS crosses from 58 on Low to 44 on Medium, then to 33 on High, and all the way down to 24 on Ultra. The 4K Ultra score of 24 FPS is a near-instant tell that the GPU is completely overwhelmed at that load, and the near-linear drop as settings climb points at the RTX 4060’s moderate fill rate rather than any remote CPU limitation.

The card’s 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs are working at full capacity in those tests. A look at the GPU’s internal benchmark – a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 and a Passmark G3D score of 19545 – gives a baseline, but what matters in Hitman 2’s rendering is that the card is built to target 1080p gaming and mildly acceptable 1440p results. At 1080p the RTX 4060 delivers 171 FPS on Low, 129 FPS on Medium, 97 FPS on High, and 72 FPS on Ultra, which means it’s clearly capable of high-refresh play at that resolution. However, the moment you push into 1440p, the numbers fall off a cliff – the average on Ultra drops to 46 FPS, and on High to 62 FPS – so the scene complexity matters more than the raw core clock. The GPU’s overall average benchmark score of 17639 puts it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and the top of its nearest rival list is the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (deltaPct of -0.2), meaning that the 4060 is only 0.2% below that comparison. But it’s the same story for the Radeon 780M, which scores 17588 with a +0.3% deltaPct. In pure compute numbers the 4060 lands right at the edge of the that local cluster, which explains why it is crowded in the 60th percentile.

The 8GB frame buffer isn’t an issue at 1080p in any of the measured settings, but when you push to 4K, the Ultra preset’s 24 FPS average speaks to a scenario where the GPU’s bandwidth is consumed unnecessarily. The tensor cores and RT cores are present but the game data shows a pure rasterization load at the presets measured. In short, the RTX 0 has enough peak compute for medium-detail gaming, but memory bandwidth hampers it when texture quality rises.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best settings for a smooth 60+ FPS experience on this system?

A: The data says 2560x1440 at Medium settings hits an average of 82 FPS (min 70, max 95), and 1080p Medium yields 129 FPS (min 109, max 148). High settings on 1440p drop to 62 FPS, so Medium is the recommended balance.

Q: How does this RTX 4060 performance compare to the nearest rival GPU in the benchmark database?

A: The RTX 4060’s average GPU benchmark score is 17639. The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (0.2% slower), and AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (0.3% faster). So the RTX 4060 is essentially tied with the HD 7790 and slightly behind the 780M in raw aggregate performance.

Q: Can this combination run Hitman 2 at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but only at Low (58 FPS average) or Medium (44 FPS average). The High preset hits 33 FPS, and Ultra only manages 24 FPS. Since any 4K Ultra play averages below 30 FPS, the RTX 4060 doesn’t support a smooth 4K High/Ultra playthrough.

Q: Why does the combo sit in rank 2018 out of 3711 combos rather than higher?

A: The CPU is exceptional, and the GPU is mediocre. The i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, while the RTX 4060 sits in only the 61st percentile. Because the processor can’t work against FPS caps and the GPU mutes at 4K, the final rank reflects a middle-of-the-pack synergy between those two.

Q: Does the CPU become a limiting factor at these resolutions?

A: No. The FPS scales linearly from 1080p to 4K, which is classic GPU-bound behavior. If the CPU were limiting, you wouldn’t see such large gaps between Low, Medium, High, and Ultra at a given resolution. The i7-14700K’s single-thread score of 2160 in Cinebench R23 and Geekbench single-core 2569 guarantee that the sustained frames are never locked to the CPU.

Q: What FPS ranges are achievable at the Medium setting?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the min/avg/max is 109, 129, 148. At 2560x1440 Medium it is 70, 82, 95. At the 4K (3840x2160) Medium preset, the FPS is 37, 44, 50.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread beast with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a max boost of 5.60 GHz. Its multi-threaded performance is indicated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a single-core score of 2160, while the Geekbench multi-core and single-core results sit at 20767 and 2569 respectively. That puts the i7-14700K in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 69355 puts it in a tight pack of rivals: the AMD EPYC 9115 (average score 69288, delta 0.1), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, -0.2), the Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, -0.7), and the Ryzen 7 9700F (69996, -0.9). All of these are within -0.2% to +0.1% of the 14700K, so this processor is clearly a top-tier performer on the aggregate list.

However, Hitman 2 is an older stealth title from 2018, and the measured data confirms that the 14700K’s raw power far exceeds the requirements of this game. At 1080p, the generation rarely yields above 171 FPS even on Low, but on Medium, the processor doesn’t break a sweat the moment the RTX 0 handles the 129 FPS. When the resolution jumps to 4K, the FPS indicator for any of the settings (except Ultra's 24) stays above 30, a clear indication that those frequencies are bound to the GPU's 272 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU sits quiet while the RTX 4060 does all the heavy lifting. The data shows no trace of a CPU bottleneck where FPS would stay constant across resolutions. Instead, the measurements scale down predictably: 1080p High 97 FPS, 1440p High 62, 4K High 33. A CPU bottleneck would show less than that separation because the CPU would limit the frames at all resolutions.

The 14700K's passmark multi-thread score of 52392 and its single-thread of 4472 underscore that it can feed even the most aggressive GPU at any setting. Since the game’s engine allows multiple core utilization, but Hitman 2’s dynamic scenes are light on thread count, the i7-14700K just cruises. The core layout – 8 performance cores and 12 efficiency (Raptor Lake) – is overkill for this title, but the presence of the 33 MB L3 cache keeps any frame spikes at bay. In short, this CPU carries the entire build’s scaling potential, but the final visual cap is set by the RTX 4060.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Observing the measured FPS transitions across resolution makes the system’s limiting factor obvious. Take the High preset numbers: 1080p scores 97 FPS, 1440p 62, and 3840x2160 drops to 33. That is a 43% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and then a 55% reduction from 1440p to 4K. And note that the data is not provided as a percentage, but as actual numbers, yet the trend is monotonic and severe. A CPU-limited system would show a flat line, but this configuration shows a steep fall because the GPU’s shading output and memory bandwidth cannot feed high resolutions. This classic GPU-bound signature reflects the RTX 4060’s 128-bit bus memory, which is only 272 GB/s. Compare that to the 24 Pascal configurations show in similar tests – the GPU is the constraint.

At 4K, the Low setting still manages 58 FPS, which shows that the engine can be lightened to allow playable frame rates, but at High and Ultra, the lack of raw pixel throughput – 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate – leaves only 24 FPS on Ultra. This is a 71% drop from the 1080p Ultra’s 72 FPS. The takeaway is clear: 1080p is where the RTX 4060 is at home, 1440p is playable if you select Medium, and 4K is simply too much for the card except at the absolute lowest settings. The scaling curve is entirely dictated by the GPU, not the 14700K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database’s tested pool of systems, this exact combination is ranked 2018 out of 3711 combos. That rank puts it in the bottom half of all tested configurations, which is a surprising statistic given the CPU’s high standing. The i7-14700K places in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, but the RTX 4060 makes only the 61st percentile. Since the game is heavily GPU-limited at the measured settings, the mute GPU negates the top-tier CPU’s potential. Therefore, the combo lands lower than the CPU alone would suggest. In comparison to other combos that pair a high end accelerator with a similar mid-range GPU, this one typically comes out behind. No specific comparisons are given for the combo itself, but the rank shows only about half of the other builds tested will outperform it in Hitman 2. Using this data, a user who wants a top CPU for other workloads can easily re-pair it with a stronger card in the game to pull the rank up, but as measured it’s simply a middle performer.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The full set of measured frame rates is below. All values come directly from the benchmark runs, and the data is measured, not simulated.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 3840x2160 | High | 33 | – | – |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 58 | – | – |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 44 | 37 | 50 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 24 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | High | 62 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 110 | – | – |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 82 | 70 | 95 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 46 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | High | 97 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 171 | – | – |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 129 | 109 | 148 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 72 | – | – |

Notice that Ultra at 1440p (85.9%?) actually scores 46 FPS, only 2 more than the 4K Low (58 FPS). The jump from 1440p High (62) to 1080p High (97) is a massive 35 FPS difference, show exactly where the GPU’s bandwidth wall sits. The only settings with min/max values are the Medium preset, confirming consistent 60-75 fps frame pacing on that tier.

In the 4K row, Medium scores 44 FPS and Ultra 24, literally putting Ultra at the input threshold outright. If you prioritize any stable framerate, stick to 1080p Medium (129 FPS) or 1440p Medium (82 FPS) – both offer a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target. The 1440p High (62 FPS) is just on the edge, and 4K is only viable when Low is selected. Practically, users can expect a smooth, fluid playthrough at 1080p or a mid-career experience at 1440p with a 40 kHz glide of settings.