Hitman 2

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT in Hitman 2 delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by the game's age and the sheer headroom of both components. The 20-core, 28-thread processor with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz provides an enormous amount of computational power that this 2018 title rarely fully utilizes. The data indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU's high boost clock is critical for achieving triple-digit frame rates, while at higher resolutions, the workload shifts decisively to the GPU. For a stealth game where frame pacing and consistency matter more than raw competitive speed, this combination proves to be exceptionally strong, though the specific settings and resolution chosen will dictate whether the experience is merely smooth or overwhelmingly fluid.

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

The Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2578 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235, is the primary driver of frame rates in Hitman 2. This game, released in 2018, was designed for the 6-core and 8-core processors of its era, meaning the 14700KF's 20 cores are not fully saturated. Instead, the game relies heavily on one or a few threads for game logic and draw calls, making the 5.60 GHz boost clock the most valuable asset.

The benchmark results clearly show this dynamic. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 236 FPS average. This is a scenario where the CPU is the primary limiter, and the high clock speed allows the processor to feed frames to the GPU as fast as possible. The gap between 1080p Low (236 FPS) and 1440p Low (151 FPS) is a significant 85 FPS drop, which suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU begins to struggle with the resolution increase, but the CPU is still capable of pushing well beyond 150 FPS. The multi-core performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167, is essentially headroom that goes unused. The processor ranks in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, is only 1% faster in average benchmark score, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.9% slower. This indicates that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 14700KF is at the very top of the desktop heap, and any frame rate limitation in Hitman 2 will come from the GPU or the game engine itself, not from a lack of processor throughput.

The L3 cache is 33 MB shared, which helps with the game's level streaming and AI calculations in crowded areas. While Hitman 2's sandbox levels feature many NPCs and complex AI routines, the 20 cores provide more than enough parallel processing capability to handle these tasks without breaking a sweat. The data shows that the processor's role here is to be a silent, overqualified partner. It ensures that there are no CPU-related stutters or frame drops, allowing the GPU to operate at its full potential. The processor's passmark single-thread score of 4480 reinforces this, showing that its per-core strength is among the best available, which is precisely what an older game like Hitman 2 needs to achieve high frame rates.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides a clear picture of how the settings presets scale performance, and the optimal choice depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1080p, the Ultra preset yields an average of 99 FPS. While this is playable, the jump to High settings provides a massive 35 FPS improvement, reaching 134 FPS. The difference between High and Medium is a further 43 FPS, with Medium hitting 177 FPS. However, at 1080p, the visual fidelity differences between High and Ultra in this game are often subtle, involving shadow quality and texture filtering. The data suggests that the High preset is the sweet spot for 1080p, as it nearly doubles the Ultra frame rate while maintaining a level of visual quality that is still very high. Low settings at 1080p are unnecessary, as the 236 FPS average is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors and comes at a significant cost to visual detail.

At 1440p, the situation is similar but the frame rates are lower. The Ultra preset averages 63 FPS, which is acceptable for a stealth game but not ideal for smooth camera panning. The High preset at 86 FPS provides a much better experience, and the Medium preset at 113 FPS is exceptionally smooth. The recommendation for 1440p is the High preset, as it offers a 37% improvement over Ultra while still delivering a visually rich image. The Medium preset is a better choice for those with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, as 113 FPS is a very comfortable target. At 4K, the dynamics change entirely. The Ultra preset drops to a 34 FPS average, which is too low for a smooth experience. High settings at 46 FPS are borderline, but the Medium preset at 60 FPS is the only sensible choice for consistent gameplay. The data shows that at 4K, the Medium preset is the recommended setting, as it provides a stable 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS, which is acceptable for the slower-paced gameplay of Hitman 2. The Low preset at 81 FPS is a viable option for those who prioritize frame rate over all else, but it will look noticeably worse.

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

The frame rate scaling across resolutions is a textbook example of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 236 FPS at 1080p to 151 FPS at 1440p, a 36% reduction, and then to 81 FPS at 4K, a further 46% reduction from the 1440p figure. This progressive decline indicates that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The CPU is more than capable of maintaining high frame rates, but the GPU's rendering workload grows exponentially.

At High settings, the drop is even more pronounced. From 134 FPS at 1080p, the frame rate falls to 86 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop) and then to 46 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). This shows that the GPU is struggling with the combination of high resolution and higher-fidelity effects. The most telling data point is the 4K High result of 46 FPS, which is a significant 66% reduction from the 1080p High result. This is a clear indication that the RX 9070 XT's 16 GB of VRAM and its compute power are being saturated by the 4K workload. The memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s is being taxed heavily.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest curve. At 1080p, it achieves 99 FPS, which drops to 63 FPS at 1440p and 34 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the threshold for comfortable playability, confirming that this preset is not viable for 4K on this hardware. The data conclusively shows that the RX 9070 XT is the bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU has ample headroom. At 1080p, the CPU is more involved, but the GPU still has enough power to push high frame rates. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings, which reinforces that the limiting component is the GPU, not the processor.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT ranks 916th out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the top 25% of all systems tested, which is a strong result given the game's age and the fact that many top-tier configurations from later years are included in the database. The ranking indicates that while this setup is not the absolute fastest, it is significantly faster than the majority of systems. The high CPU percentile of 94% and the GPU percentile of 55% suggest that the CPU is a top-tier part, while the GPU is more of a mid-to-high-range performer in the grand scheme of all GPUs.

The ranking is likely held back by the GPU's performance at higher resolutions. Many of the combos ranked above this one will feature more powerful GPUs that can handle 4K Ultra settings better. The combo's position suggests that it is a well-balanced system for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it is not optimized for 4K Ultra. The rank of 916 out of 3711 means that about 75% of tested systems are slower, which is a solid performance tier. For a game like Hitman 2, which is not as demanding as modern titles, this combo is more than sufficient to deliver a high-quality experience at most settings. The data shows that the bottleneck is the GPU, so users looking to improve this ranking would need to upgrade the graphics card, not the processor.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a 4 nm process from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This large memory pool is more than sufficient for Hitman 2, which was released in 2018 and does not require massive amounts of VRAM even at 4K. The GPU's base clock is 1660 MHz, with a boost clock of 2970 MHz and a game clock of 2400 MHz. The high boost clock is crucial for maintaining frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios.

The GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU has enough power to render frames quickly, but the CPU is often the limiting factor. The data shows that at 1080p High, the combination achieves 134 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. The GPU's compute power, rated at 48.66 TFLOPS FP32, is more than enough for this resolution. As the resolution increases to 1440p, the GPU's workload increases, and the frame rate drops. At 4K, the GPU becomes the definitive bottleneck. The 4K High result of 46 FPS shows that the GPU is struggling to maintain playable frame rates, despite having 16 GB of VRAM. The issue is not memory capacity but rather the raw shader and texture processing power. The GPU has 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs, which are tasked with rendering the higher pixel count.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Passmark G3D score of 26795, places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are much older and less powerful cards like the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which are 0.1% and 0.2% faster in average score, respectively. This is an anomalous data point, but it highlights that the RX 9070 XT's strength lies in modern APIs and specific workloads, not necessarily in legacy DirectX 11 games like Hitman 2. The GPU's DirectX 12 Passmark score is 78, while its DirectX 11 score is 292, indicating that it performs better in DX11 workloads. The data shows that the RX 9070 XT is a capable GPU, but its performance in this older title is limited by its architecture's focus on newer features, leading to the observed frame rates.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across all combinations of resolution and settings.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Ultra: 99 FPS average.
• High: 134 FPS average.
• Medium: 177 FPS average, with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 204 FPS.
• Low: 236 FPS average.

At 1080p, the system is exceptionally fast. The Ultra preset is the only one that falls below 100 FPS, but it is still very playable. The High preset offers a significant boost to 134 FPS, making it the recommended setting for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium preset's minimum of 151 FPS ensures that there are no noticeable dips, providing a very smooth experience. The Low preset is overkill, with frame rates exceeding 200 FPS, but it sacrifices too much visual quality to be practical.

1440p (2560x1440):

• Ultra: 63 FPS average.
• High: 86 FPS average.
• Medium: 113 FPS average, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 130 FPS.
• Low: 151 FPS average.

The 1440p results show a clear step down from 1080p. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is playable but lacks the smoothness of higher frame rates. The High preset at 86 FPS is a better balance, offering a 37% improvement over Ultra. The Medium preset at 113 FPS is the best choice for a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor, as its minimum of 96 FPS ensures consistent performance. The Low preset at 151 FPS is excellent and provides a very responsive experience.

4K (3840x2160):

• Ultra: 34 FPS average.
• High: 46 FPS average.
• Medium: 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS.
• Low: 81 FPS average.

The 4K results are where the GPU's limitations become apparent. The Ultra preset at 34 FPS is not playable for a smooth experience. The High preset at 46 FPS is borderline, but the Medium preset at 60 FPS is the only viable option for consistent 60 FPS gameplay. The minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS show that there is some variation, but it is manageable. The Low preset at 81 FPS is a good option for those who want a high frame rate at 4K, but it comes at a significant cost to visual fidelity. The data clearly shows that Medium settings at 4K is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, providing a playable frame rate while maintaining a reasonable level of visual quality.