Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is a stealth game that rewards precision and planning, and its engine scales predictably across hardware tiers. This analysis covers the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination, using measured FPS data from 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions. The data shows a system that is capable of high refresh rates at lower resolutions and remains playable at 4K, though the Ultra preset will test its limits. The CPU brings 24 cores and a 6.00 GHz boost clock, while the GPU offers 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and Ada Lovelace architecture. Results are interpreted relative to the nearest rival components, with the combo ranking 315th out of 3711 tested configurations for this game.

FAQ

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

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings delivers an average of 109 FPS, while Medium settings at the same resolution hit 144 FPS. This strikes a balance between visual quality and smoothness, as 1920x1080 pushes far beyond refresh rate needs (301 FPS on Low) and 3840x2160 drops below 60 FPS on High.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, placing it 0.3% behind the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79371) and 0.6% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574). It is 1.2% behind the AMD EPYC 7413 (80041) but 1.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (77740).

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (54247) and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.7% (55698) and the AMD Radeon 8060S by 2.8% (55757).

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 43, which is below the 58 FPS seen on High settings. The 15 FPS loss from High to Ultra is significant, and the Medium preset at 77 FPS provides a much smoother experience while still looking detailed.

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread performance indicator?

A: The CPU scores 2262.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2935 in Cinebench R20 single-core. In Passmark single-thread tests it scores 4697, and Geekbench single-core is 2655. These numbers align with its 6.00 GHz boost clock, which matters for Hitman 2’s simulation-heavy stealth AI.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for Hitman 2?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 256-bit bus and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth. This is ample for Hitman 2’s maximum settings at any resolution tested, as the measured FPS drops are driven by rendering load rather than memory capacity limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 315th out of 3711 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the top 8.5% of all configurations in the database, which is strong but not elite. The ranking reflects a pairing where the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides headroom that keeps frame rates stable. For context, the CPU alone sits in the 95th percentile versus all CPUs, and the GPU sits in the 86th percentile versus all GPUs, so the combo’s rank is slightly below what the individual percentiles might suggest. This gap is typical for a game like Hitman 2, where the engine’s rendering complexity at 4K Ultra can outpace even a high-end GPU.

The rank of 315 out of 3711 means 3396 other combos perform worse, but 314 perform better. That puts this pairing in the upper tier, though not at the very top. The nearest rival GPUs—like the RTX 4080 with a delta of -0.1%—would likely produce nearly identical frame rates, while the CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Core i9-14900KF at -0.3%, would show no measurable difference in this game. The data indicates that for Hitman 2, the combo’s placement is driven more by the GPU’s rasterization power than the CPU’s multithreaded score, since the game’s stealth mechanics and crowd simulations benefit from strong single-core performance but do not scale infinitely with core counts.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz, and it boosts up to 6.00 GHz, which is the highest boost figure in this data. The CPU has 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core, along with 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its 125 W TDP reflects a desktop part designed for sustained loads.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s simulation layer—enemy AI routines, crowd pathfinding, and event scripting. Benchmark results show strong single-thread performance: Cinebench R23 single-core scores 2262.5, while Passmark single-thread is 4697. These numbers correlate with the 6.00 GHz boost clock, which allows the game’s primary thread to run at maximum frequency. The multithreaded scores are equally robust, with Cinebench R23 multi-core at 39399.5 and Passmark multithread at 58674, but Hitman 2 rarely uses all 24 cores. Instead, the combination of high boost clocks and a large L3 cache means the CPU can handle sudden frame hitches when multiple AI agents react to the player’s actions.

The CPU’s 95th percentile ranking versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, reinforces that this is a top-tier processor. However, its nearest rivals—the Core i9-14900KF at -0.3% and Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at -0.6%—show that the performance gap between the best desktop CPUs is minimal. For Hitman 2, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (301 FPS) and 1440p Low (192 FPS) suggests the CPU can feed the GPU far beyond what most monitors can display. Even at 4K, the CPU is unlikely to bottleneck, as the FPS drops from 103 at Low to 58 at High are clearly GPU-bound. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, which is expected given its single-core capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, with averages provided for all rows and min/max values for Medium settings only. Starting at 1920x1080, the combo achieves 301 FPS on Low, 226 FPS on Medium (min 192, max 260), 171 FPS on High, and 126 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 175 FPS, which indicates that the GPU is doing progressively more work, but even at Ultra, the frame rate exceeds 120 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 192 FPS on Low, 144 FPS on Medium (min 123, max 166), 109 FPS on High, and 80 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 36-37% lower at each settings level, which aligns with the increased pixel count. At Medium, the min FPS of 123 ensures there are no major dips, and High at 109 FPS is still very smooth. Ultra at 80 FPS is playable, but the gap between High and Ultra (29 FPS) suggests diminishing returns for the visual upgrade.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes significantly. Low settings yield 103 FPS, Medium drops to 77 FPS (min 65, max 88), High falls to 58 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43 FPS. The 4K resolution nearly halves the 1440p frame rates, which is a direct result of the pixel fill rate required. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 816.0 GTexel/s texture rate are being pushed hard here. The High preset at 58 FPS is just under the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium at 77 FPS is the sweet spot for 4K gaming on this combo. The min FPS of 65 at Medium shows that even in heavy scenes, the frame rate stays above 60.

Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently delivers the highest averages, but the data shows that Medium is the most balanced option. At 1080p, Medium’s 226 FPS is 75 FPS lower than Low but still far above any display refresh rate. At 1440p, Medium’s 144 FPS matches a 144 Hz monitor perfectly. At 4K, Medium’s 77 FPS is the only preset besides Low that stays comfortably above 60 FPS. The min FPS values for Medium at each resolution—192 at 1080p, 123 at 1440p, and 65 at 4K—show that the combo maintains stability without sudden hitches.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, housing 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. Its base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting to 2550 MHz, with memory clocked at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The GPU has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, along with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. Memory consists of 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The pixel rate is 285.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 816.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 52.22 TFLOPS.

In Hitman 2, the GPU’s role is straightforward: render the detailed environments, lighting, and character models. The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as no measured row indicates memory pressure. The 256-bit memory bus and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth allow the GPU to stream textures and geometry efficiently, which is critical at 4K where the pixel workload increases fourfold over 1080p. The boost clock of 2550 MHz helps maintain high frame rates, but the data shows that the GPU’s raw compute capacity is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 54209, placing it in the 86th percentile versus all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 54247 with a delta of -0.1%, meaning the SUPER variant is statistically identical in overall performance. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% faster in average score (54828), but that is a workstation card, not a gaming-focused part. The RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S are 2.7% and 2.8% faster in synthetic benchmarks, respectively, but those scores do not translate directly to Hitman 2 performance. Real-world results show the RTX 4080 SUPER delivering playable frame rates up to 1440p Ultra and 4K Medium, which is consistent with its position in the GPU hierarchy.

The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6600 and Passmark G3D score of 34245 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which Hitman 2 utilizes. The FP32 throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS is relevant for the game’s lighting calculations, and the 80 RT cores are unused here since Hitman 2 does not support ray tracing in this data. The 112 ROPs handle pixel output, and the 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate directly influences how many pixels can be shaded per second, which explains the 4K FPS drops.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset provides the best experience for this combo across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium averages 226 FPS with a min of 192, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The visual difference between Medium and High at 1080p is negligible for gameplay, and the extra 55 FPS headroom ensures no drops. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 144 FPS with a min of 123, which is ideal for 144 Hz displays. The min FPS staying above 120 ensures smooth camera panning in crowded areas.

For 3840x2160, Medium is the only preset that delivers both visual fidelity and playability. The 77 FPS average with a min of 65 keeps the experience above the 60 FPS threshold, while High at 58 FPS and Ultra at 43 FPS fall short. The data shows that High at 4K is borderline, but the 65 FPS minimum on Medium provides a safety buffer. If a player prioritizes visual quality over frame rate, High at 1440p (109 FPS) is a better choice than High at 4K (58 FPS), since the former still offers high refresh rates.

Low settings are not recommended for this combo, as the hardware is capable of far more. At 1080p Low, the 301 FPS is wasted on all but 360 Hz monitors, and at 4K Low, 103 FPS leaves performance on the table. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p (126 FPS) and 1440p (80 FPS), but the jump from High to Ultra costs 45 FPS at 1080p and 29 FPS at 1440p. The Ultra preset’s visual gains are not worth the frame rate loss, especially since Medium already provides a stable experience. The best compromise is Medium at 1440p for a 144 Hz monitor, or Medium at 4K for a 60 Hz display.