Hitman 2

This combo pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, and the measured results in Hitman 2 show a system that is heavily dictated by resolution and settings. The data reveals a CPU that becomes a bottleneck at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over at 4K, creating a predictable scaling curve.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the limiting component shifts depending on the workload. At 1080p Low, the system produces 198.7 FPS, but at 4K Low, it falls to 92 FPS — a reduction of 106.7 FPS. This 54% decrease shows that the RTX 4070 SUPER is being fed enough data at lower resolutions to hit very high frame rates, but the pixel throughput demand at 4K begins to strain the GPU.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. Moving from 1080p Ultra (112.8 FPS) to 4K Ultra (37.4 FPS) represents a 75.4 FPS drop, or roughly 67% lower performance. This is a classic sign of GPU-bound behavior at 4K, where the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are tasked with rendering far more pixels per frame.

At 1440p, the curve sits comfortably between the two extremes. High settings yield 96.2 FPS, which is 53.4 FPS lower than 1080p High (149.6 FPS) but 45.5 FPS higher than 4K High (50.7 FPS). This suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot where the CPU and GPU are more balanced, though the Ryzen 5 2600 still imposes limits at lower settings.

The 1080p Low result of 198.7 FPS is telling. It is only 31.5 FPS higher than 1440p Low (167.2 FPS), despite a 2.25x increase in pixel count. This relatively small gap implies that the CPU is capping performance around the 200 FPS mark, since the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 429th out of 1795 tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the 76th percentile of all systems tested. This is a solid mid-to-upper tier ranking, but it is not near the top, which reflects the age of the CPU relative to the modern GPU.

The Ryzen 5 2600 sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs based on its average benchmark score of 19616. Its nearest rivals show how close the pack is: the Intel Core i5-1345U scores 19691, which is 0.4% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U scores 19508, 0.6% lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF is 0.6% ahead at 19740, and the Intel Core i7-10700F is 0.7% behind at 19485.

These small deltas indicate that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. It is not an outlier in either direction, but the 2000-series architecture with 6 cores and 12 threads is clearly a generation behind the newer processors that dominate the top of the rankings.

The GPU, by contrast, ranks at the 84th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 42576. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A6000, scores 42653, a 0.2% difference, while the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE is 0.3% higher at 42723. The AMD Radeon Pro 580X trails by 1.4% at 41991, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 is 1.6% behind at 41897.

The discrepancy between GPU percentile (84th) and CPU percentile (77th) explains the overall combo rank. The GPU is capable of far more than the CPU can consistently feed it, particularly at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications make that clear. It features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the 37.4 FPS result shows the card being pushed to its limits, while at 4K Low, the 92 FPS figure demonstrates that even a high-end GPU must sacrifice settings to maintain playable frame rates at this resolution.

The 21 Gbps effective memory speed and 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are relevant here. The game's environments are dense with geometry and shadows, and the data suggests that the GPU is fully utilized at 4K, whereas at 1080p, it is often waiting on the CPU.

The FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s also contribute to the strong scaling seen at 1440p, where the card can flex its muscle without being completely bottlenecked.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are high across all settings. Low produces 198.7 FPS, Medium yields 175.8 FPS, High drops to 149.6 FPS, and Ultra settles at 112.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 85.9 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact even at the lowest resolution.

2560x1440 shows a similar pattern but with lower absolute numbers. Low achieves 167.2 FPS, Medium 126.6 FPS, High 96.2 FPS, and Ultra 67.7 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 99.5 FPS, which is a larger absolute difference than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a factor.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates fall dramatically. Low hits 92 FPS, Medium 66 FPS, High 50.7 FPS, and Ultra 37.4 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 54.6 FPS, but the percentage drop is the steepest of any resolution.

The data shows that High settings at 1440p (96.2 FPS) is nearly identical to 4K Low (92 FPS), suggesting that users can choose between higher resolution or higher fidelity with similar performance outcomes.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the data points to 1440p High as the optimal balance. The 96.2 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual quality jump from Low to High is substantial in a stealth game where seeing enemies and environmental details matters.

At 1080p, High settings at 149.6 FPS is the recommended pick. The difference between Medium (175.8 FPS) and High (149.6 FPS) is 26.2 FPS, but the visual improvement is worth it. Ultra at 112.8 FPS is also playable, but the marginal gains over High are not worth the 36.8 FPS loss.

For 4K users, the data presents a clear tradeoff. High settings at 50.7 FPS is borderline, while Medium at 66 FPS is more comfortable. The 15.3 FPS difference between Medium and High is significant, making Medium the better choice for 4K unless the user prioritizes visuals over smoothness.

The Low settings at any resolution are not recommended for this hardware, as even 4K Low (92 FPS) is playable, and the visual downgrade is severe.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The data shows 4K Medium at 66 FPS and 4K High at 50.7 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 37.4 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: 1440p High provides the best balance at 96.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard and significantly higher than 4K Medium at 66 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p. The 198.7 FPS at Low settings is only 31.5 FPS higher than the 167.2 FPS at 1440p Low, showing the Ryzen 5 2600 caps performance around 200 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 429th out of 1795 combos, placing it in the upper 24% of all tested configurations in Hitman 2.

Q: What settings should I use for a 60 FPS target at 4K?

A: Medium settings at 66 FPS is the only 4K preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. High settings at 50.7 FPS falls short of that target.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER being held back by the Ryzen 5 2600?

A: Yes, at 1080p and 1440p Low settings, the GPU is not fully utilized. The 1080p Low result of 198.7 FPS is close to the 1440p Low result of 167.2 FPS, indicating a CPU bottleneck.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen architecture, manufactured on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, with 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 46.9 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards.

The benchmark data confirms that this CPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11186 and single-core score of 1579 are respectable for its generation, but they are far below what newer processors achieve. The PassMark multi-thread score of 13160 and single-thread score of 2239 place it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p. The gap between 1080p Low (198.7 FPS) and 1440p Low (167.2 FPS) is only 31.5 FPS, despite the 2.25x increase in pixel count. This indicates that the CPU is unable to feed the GPU faster than roughly 200 FPS, regardless of resolution.

The Ryzen 5 2600's nearest rivals show that it is not a weak processor by any means. The Intel Core i5-1345U is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U is 0.6% slower, meaning the 2600 sits right in the middle of its performance class. However, the 2000 series architecture lacks the IPC improvements of later generations, which is why the GPU is underutilized at lower resolutions.

At 4K, the CPU load is reduced, and the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck. This is why the 4K Low result of 92 FPS is so much lower than the 1080p Low result of 198.7 FPS — the GPU is finally being worked hard enough to matter. The data suggests that users with this combo should prioritize higher resolutions to get the most out of the RTX 4070 SUPER, rather than chasing high refresh rates at 1080p.