Hitman 2

FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank of the Intel Core i7-14700KF with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 in Hitman 2?

A: This combination ranks 3072nd out of 3711 tested combos in the database for this game, placing it in the lower portion of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1920x1080?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 119 FPS average. With Medium settings, it drops to 89 FPS, and with High settings, it reaches 67 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070's VRAM capacity affect 4K performance?

A: The 8 GB GDDR5 memory buffer is sufficient for the game's assets at 3840x2160, as evidenced by playable (though not high-refresh) frame rates at Low settings (40 FPS) and Medium settings (30 FPS).

Q: What is the CPU's multi-core performance relative to its nearest rival?

A: The i7-14700KF scores 70,163 in the average benchmark, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F’s 69,996 and 0.9% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X’s 69,515.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance at 1440p High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the combo produces 43 FPS. Given that the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 1082 and the CPU's percentile rank is 94, the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution and preset.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The only minimum FPS values recorded are at Medium settings: 26 FPS at 4K, 48 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 1080p. No minimum data exists for other presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this pairing at rank 3072 out of 3711 combinations tested in Hitman 2. That puts it in the bottom 17% of all tested configs, which is a significant indicator of where this hardware sits relative to the broader field. The ranking is not a measure of absolute failure—the combo can run the game—but it does signal that most other pairings in the database deliver higher average frame rates.

Context matters here. The CPU is a top-tier part, sitting in the 94th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70,163. That places it just 0.2% above the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and 1% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. The GPU, however, is far more modest: it ranks in the 47th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9,780. That is only 0.6% above the NVIDIA Tesla M10 and 0.7% above the NVIDIA Tesla C2070.

The gap between CPU capability and GPU capability is stark. In a game like Hitman 2, which is not notoriously CPU-bound at high resolutions, the GPU becomes the bottleneck in almost every measurable scenario. The rank of 3072 reflects that imbalance: a very strong processor paired with a mid-range graphics card from a previous generation produces results that are firmly in the lower third of the database.

GPU Role

The GTX 1070 is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP104 chip fabricated on a 16 nm process. It packs 1,920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The memory subsystem is 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds are set at 1,506 MHz base and 1,683 MHz boost, with memory running at an effective 8 Gbps.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is decisive across nearly all measured settings. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 119 FPS, which shows the card can handle the game when visual load is minimized. But as settings climb, the frame rate falls quickly: 89 FPS at Medium, 67 FPS at High, and 50 FPS at Ultra. The pattern is consistent—each step up in preset costs roughly 20-25% of the previous performance.

The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in the data. Even at 4K, where texture memory demand is highest, the 8 GB buffer does not appear to cause a collapse in frame rates. The 4K Medium result of 30 FPS average, with a minimum of 26 FPS, suggests the card is compute-bound rather than memory-bound. The GPU's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is the more likely constraint, especially when rendering at higher resolutions.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all older or lower-tier cards—the AMD FirePro W5000, NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, and NVIDIA Tesla M10. The GTX 1070 scores 9,780 on average, which is within 1% of these peers. This places the card in a performance tier that is adequate for 1080p gaming but struggles at higher resolutions or with demanding presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data covers three resolutions and four quality presets each, for a total of twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are the strongest. Low settings produce 119 FPS average, Medium produces 89 FPS, High produces 67 FPS, and Ultra produces 50 FPS. The Medium preset also includes a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 102 FPS, indicating a stable frame pacing window.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but not catastrophic. Low settings yield 76 FPS average, Medium yields 57 FPS, High yields 43 FPS, and Ultra yields 32 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS. This resolution is still playable at Low and Medium, with High and Ultra becoming marginal for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings produce 40 FPS average, Medium produces 30 FPS, High produces 23 FPS, and Ultra produces 17 FPS. The Medium preset records a minimum of 26 FPS and a maximum of 35 FPS. At 4K, even Low settings barely cross the 40 FPS threshold, and any preset above Medium falls below what most players would consider acceptable.

The data reveals a clear progression: 1080p is fully playable across all presets, 1440p is playable at Low and Medium, and 4K is only playable at Low settings. The lack of minimum and maximum values for most rows means the analysis relies on averages, but the Medium preset data at each resolution provides some insight into frame time consistency.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and the user's tolerance for frame rate variation. At 1080p, the data supports using High settings for a balanced experience: 67 FPS average is smooth for most gameplay, and it leaves headroom above the 50 FPS Ultra result. If the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 50 FPS is still playable, though it may feel less fluid in crowded scenes.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts to Medium settings. The 57 FPS average with a 48 FPS minimum is the highest preset that stays above the 60 FPS threshold on average, and the minimum is still in playable territory. High settings at 43 FPS may be acceptable for slower-paced stealth gameplay, but Medium offers a better safety margin.

At 4K, the only viable option from the measured data is Low settings, which delivers 40 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 30 FPS, which is borderline for a stealth title where precise timing matters. The 4K High and Ultra presets (23 FPS and 17 FPS respectively) are effectively unplayable in any action-oriented context.

The Medium preset at 1080p deserves special mention: it is the only configuration in the entire dataset that provides both a minimum FPS above 60 (76) and an average near 90 (89). This represents the best frame rate consistency relative to visual quality. For users who value smoothness over absolute fidelity, this is the sweet spot.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on a 10 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts to 5.60 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration.

In the benchmark database, this CPU stands out as a high performer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 44,167, and its single-core score is 6,235. Geekbench results show 21,462 multi-core and 2,578 single-core. PassMark multi-thread score is 52,425, and single-thread is 4,480. These numbers place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all processors.

The CPU's role in Hitman 2 is somewhat muted by the GPU's limitations. At 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lightest, the combo achieves 119 FPS—the highest result in the dataset. This suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions. However, at 1080p Ultra, the frame rate drops to 50 FPS, which is more consistent with GPU limitation than CPU constraint.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (0.4% slower), and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (0.9% slower). The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is 1% faster. These differences are small enough that they would not meaningfully alter Hitman 2 performance, reinforcing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern of degradation that points to the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 119 at 1080p to 76 at 1440p to 40 at 4K. That is a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is roughly proportional to the pixel count increase, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound rendering.

At Medium settings, the progression is 89 FPS at 1080p, 57 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%. This mirrors the Low settings pattern almost exactly, confirming that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors regardless of quality preset.

At High settings, the numbers are 67 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% and 47% again. At Ultra settings, the pattern holds: 50 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 17 FPS at 4K.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets is notable. It indicates that the rendering pipeline is uniformly GPU-limited; the CPU's performance headroom does not change the scaling behavior. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p to be smaller than the drop from 1440p to 4K, because the CPU load per frame would decrease as the GPU takes longer to render each frame. Instead, the drops are identical, confirming the GPU is the sole limiting factor at every resolution and setting combination.