Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 6600 reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 132 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 85 FPS, a reduction of roughly 36%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 45 FPS, which is about 47% lower than the 1440p result and 66% lower than the 1080p result.

This pattern of large percentage drops between resolutions indicates that the system is heavily GPU-limited. The RX 6600, with its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, simply cannot sustain frame rates at higher pixel counts. The data shows a clear halving of performance from 1080p to 4K at every settings tier. For High settings, the drop goes from 75 FPS at 1080p to 48 FPS at 1440p to 26 FPS at 4K. Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 99 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K.

The 4K Ultra result of 19 FPS average is particularly telling. That is below playable thresholds for most action-oriented stealth gameplay. The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K is also steep — 34 FPS to 19 FPS — suggesting that the GPU's shading units and texture throughput are saturated. The RX 6600 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs; at 4K Ultra, these resources are insufficient for Hitman 2's crowd and lighting calculations.

Interestingly, the CPU does not appear to be a limiting factor in this scaling analysis. The i9-14900K, with 24 cores and 32 threads, has ample headroom at all resolutions. The bottleneck shifts entirely to the GPU as resolution climbs, which is typical for a game of this era but exaggerated here by the RX 6600's mid-range positioning.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. Its clock behavior shows a base of 1626 MHz, a game clock of 2044 MHz, and a boost clock of 2491 MHz. These clocks are respectable for the architecture, but the memory subsystem is the limiting factor. The 128-bit bus width and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, and Hitman 2's open-ended levels with many NPCs and destructible objects demand more bandwidth at higher resolutions.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p in this title, but at 4K, the data suggests the framebuffer is under pressure. The 4K Low result of 45 FPS versus the 4K Medium result of 34 FPS shows that even modest settings increases cause significant performance loss — a sign of VRAM capacity or bandwidth saturation. The GPU's 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 279.0 GTexel/s texture rate are moderate figures that align with the observed mid-range performance.

Benchmark comparisons place the RX 6600 at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 at a delta of 0%, the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile at -0.1%, and the Tesla K20m at -0.3%. These are all within a narrow band, indicating the RX 6600 sits in a crowded performance tier. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation trails by 0.4%. None of these deltas exceed 0.5%, so the RX 6600 is essentially tied with these competitors in aggregate benchmark terms.

For Hitman 2 specifically, the GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are relevant. The game can leverage these APIs, but the measured FPS data suggests the implementation is not enough to overcome the hardware's raw throughput limits at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 6600 ranks 2895 out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places it in the lower third of all combos, which is surprising given the high-end CPU. The percentile position is driven entirely by the GPU's mid-range standing. The i9-14900K sits at the 95th percentile among CPUs, but the RX 6600 at the 63rd percentile among GPUs drags the combined ranking down.

The ranking of 2895 means that roughly 78% of tested combos outperform this pairing in Hitman 2. This is a significant gap. The CPU's benchmark scores are elite: Cinebench R23 multi-core of 39399.5, Geekbench multi-core of 21697, and Passmark multi-thread of 58674. These numbers indicate the CPU is capable of feeding any GPU in existence. The bottleneck is unambiguous.

Within the database's combo rankings, the i9-14900K's nearest CPU rivals are the i9-14900KF at -0.3% delta, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at -0.6%, and the EPYC 7413 at -1.2%. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% ahead. These deltas are small, meaning the CPU choice among top-tier parts has minimal impact. The GPU choice matters far more for this game.

This ranking data suggests that pairing a flagship CPU with a mid-range GPU is a suboptimal configuration for Hitman 2, at least in terms of raw FPS. The CPU headroom is wasted at 4K and only partially utilized at 1080p, where the Low setting achieves 132 FPS — likely CPU-bound in some scenes, but still limited by the GPU in others.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on the best settings-to-resolution trade-offs. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS. This is the sweet spot: smooth, responsive, and well above 60 FPS even in the worst measured frames. The Low preset hits 132 FPS average, which is useful for competitive play or high-refresh displays, but the visual quality loss is unnecessary for most users. High at 1080p gives 75 FPS, which is still playable but the step down from Medium is notable. Ultra at 1080p drops to 55 FPS, which is borderline for a stealth game where quick reactions matter.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset produces 64 FPS average with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. This is the recommended choice for 1440p owners. The minimum of 54 FPS is slightly below 60, but the average is comfortable. Low at 1440p gives 85 FPS, which is smoother but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that relies on environmental storytelling. High at 1440p drops to 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS — both below the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low gives 45 FPS average, Medium gives 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 FPS, High gives 26 FPS, and Ultra gives 19 FPS. None of these are ideal. If 4K is mandatory, Low is the only playable setting, and even then the 45 FPS average is below the 60 FPS standard. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises.

The overall recommendation is 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium, depending on the display. The 1080p Medium row has the best combination of average FPS and minimum FPS stability. The 1440p Medium row is acceptable but the 54 FPS minimum is a risk in dense scenes.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Medium settings achieves 99 FPS average with a minimum of 84 FPS, making it the most consistent experience. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 64 FPS average but the minimum drops to 54 FPS.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the highest playable average is 45 FPS on Low settings. Medium drops to 34 FPS, High to 26 FPS, and Ultra to 19 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 6600 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In aggregate benchmarks, the RX 6600 scores 19036. The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 is at a 0% delta, the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile is -0.1%, the Tesla K20m is -0.3%, and the RTX 2000 Ada Generation is +0.4%.

Q: Is the i9-14900K the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: No. The i9-14900K ranks at the 95th percentile among CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 39399.5. The FPS scaling across resolutions indicates the RX 6600 is the limiting component.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: Low delivers 132 FPS average, while Ultra delivers 55 FPS. That is a 77 FPS difference, or about 58% lower performance at Ultra.

Q: How does the combo rank overall in the database?

A: It ranks 2895 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the lower third of all configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on the Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz and boost clock is 6.00 GHz. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3. This is a flagship desktop part with a 125 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI pathfinding, and physics. The i9-14900K's benchmark scores indicate it is more than sufficient. Cinebench R20 multi-core scores 20793, R23 single-core scores 2262.5, and Geekbench single-core scores 2655. These are elite numbers. The Passmark single-thread score of 4697 confirms strong per-core performance, which matters for games that are not fully multithreaded.

The nearest CPU rivals show how close the top tier is. The i9-14900KF is only 0.3% behind in average score, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus is 0.6% behind, and the EPYC 7413 is 1.2% behind. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% ahead. These deltas are negligible for gaming. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical FPS in Hitman 2 when paired with the same GPU.

The fact that the combo ranks 2895 out of 3711 despite this CPU power underscores that the game is not CPU-limited in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the 132 FPS average might approach CPU limits in certain scenes, but the GPU still has headroom. At higher resolutions, the CPU is effectively idle relative to the GPU's workload. The i9-14900K's 24 cores and 32 threads are far more than Hitman 2 requires, even with its complex crowd simulations.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, along with its dual-channel memory bus, means memory bandwidth is not a concern. The 36 MB of L3 cache is also ample for the game's working set. In short, the CPU is a non-factor in this pairing's performance ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core i9-14900K and AMD Radeon RX 6600 covers four settings tiers across three resolutions. The data is as follows:

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 45 FPS. The Medium preset averages 34 FPS with a minimum of 29 FPS and maximum of 39 FPS. The High preset averages 26 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 19 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 26 FPS, which is a 58% performance drop.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 85 FPS. The Medium preset averages 64 FPS with a minimum of 54 FPS and maximum of 73 FPS. The High preset averages 48 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 35 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 50 FPS, which is a 59% performance drop.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 132 FPS. The Medium preset averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 55 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 77 FPS, which is a 58% performance drop.

The consistency of the percentage drop across resolutions (58-59%) indicates that the performance scaling is uniform. The GPU's compute resources scale linearly with settings, and the memory bandwidth bottleneck is consistent across all pixel counts. The Medium presets at each resolution have the only recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing the most complete picture of frame time stability. The 1080p Medium minimum of 84 FPS is the most robust result in the entire dataset, showing that this configuration can maintain high frame rates even in demanding scenes.

The 4K data is uniformly poor, with even the Low preset failing to reach 60 FPS. The 1440p data is serviceable, with Medium being the only preset that stays above 60 FPS on average. The 1080p data is strong across all presets, with even Ultra achieving 55 FPS average. This breakdown reinforces the conclusion that the RX 6600 is best utilized at 1080p or modest 1440p settings, and that the i9-14900K's capabilities are not the limiting factor in any measured scenario.