Hitman 2

The pairing of AMD's Ryzen 5 2600 with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080 presents a striking generational contrast. The data for Hitman 2 reveals a system where the CPU, a 2018 release, is tasked with feeding one of the most powerful GPUs from 2022. This analysis interprets the measured FPS rows to understand where the bottleneck lies, how the components interact, and what settings provide the most playable experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable trend as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the performance drop tells a compelling story about the system's limiting factor. At 1080p with High settings, the system achieves 160 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the average FPS drops to 110, a decline of 31.2%. Further scaling to 4K (3840x2160) on High settings yields just 58 FPS, a 63.7% reduction from the 1080p result and a 47.2% drop from the 1440p figure.

This pattern indicates that the game becomes progressively more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the load on the CPU is relatively heavier, but the RTX 4080 still manages to push a very high frame rate. As the pixel count increases, the GPU's rendering workload expands significantly, causing the frame rate to fall. The fact that the 4K High result (58 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p High result (160 FPS) suggests the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution, with the CPU overhead becoming a smaller percentage of the total frame time.

However, the scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly revealing. A purely GPU-limited scenario would often show a more linear relationship with pixel count. The 4K result being so much lower than the 1440p result indicates that the RTX 4080 is being fully utilized at 4K, while the Ryzen 5 2600 may be holding back performance at the lower resolutions where its 6 cores and 12 threads are more likely to become a limiting factor.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 2000 series, based on the Zen+ architecture. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz, which can boost up to 3.90 GHz. The benchmark results show a multi-core score of 1248 in Cinebench R15 and 13160 in Passmark, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V and the Intel Core i9-11900H, with the Ryzen 5 2600 being essentially tied with them (0.2% and 0.5% differences respectively).

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, AI, and draw calls. The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600 is sufficient to maintain playable frame rates, but its limits become apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system hits 197 FPS, which is a high number but still lower than what a newer, higher-clocked CPU might achieve with this GPU. The single-thread performance, measured at 2239 in Passmark, is a critical factor for game engines that depend heavily on a few cores.

The fact that the FPS at 1080p on High (160 FPS) is significantly lower than at 1080p on Low (197 FPS) while the 4K High result is much lower still (58 FPS) illustrates that the CPU is not the sole bottleneck in all situations. At 1080p, the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output to a certain extent, but the GPU is already near its performance ceiling for that resolution. The CPU's performance, relative to its rivals, suggests it is a mid-range processor, and the data implies it is not fully saturating the RTX 4080's capabilities in this title, except perhaps at the very highest frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bottleneck the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 in Hitman 2?

A: The data suggests that the CPU becomes a limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 197 FPS, but the gap between this and the 4K Low result (103 FPS) is primarily due to GPU load. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 2239 indicates it is not a top-tier performer, so while it can drive high frame rates, it likely prevents the RTX 4080 from reaching its absolute maximum potential at 1080p.

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this combo for a high refresh rate experience?

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p is the sweet spot. At this resolution, the system achieves 145 FPS on Medium settings and 110 FPS on High, both of which are well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and approach the 144 Hz refresh rate that many monitors offer. The 4K results are lower, with the High setting producing 58 FPS.

Q: How much of a performance hit does the "Ultra" preset incur compared to "High"?

A: The penalty for using Ultra is substantial. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 160 on High to 126 on Ultra, a 21.2% decrease. At 1440p, the drop is even more severe, from 110 FPS on High to 81 FPS on Ultra, a 26.3% reduction. At 4K, the Ultra preset yields only 43 FPS, compared to 58 FPS on High, making it a 25.8% performance loss.

Q: Is the RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM a factor in this game's performance?

A: The data does not show any specific VRAM limitation for Hitman 2. The GPU's memory bandwidth is 716.8 GB/s, which is ample for the game's requirements. The FPS drops are consistent with a rendering load increase rather than a VRAM capacity issue, as the game was released in 2018 and is not expected to exceed 16 GB at these settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 2600 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of overall CPU performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600's average benchmark score is 21484. Its closest rival is the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, which scores 21440, making the Ryzen 5 2600 just 0.2% faster. It also edges out the Intel Core i9-11900H by 0.5%. This indicates that, despite its age, it performs on par with these newer processors in general compute tasks.

Q: What is the playable performance at 4K for this combo?

A: At 4K, the system is mostly GPU-bound. The Medium preset yields an average of 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS, which is playable. However, the High preset drops to 58 FPS, which is still acceptable for many, but the Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not ideal for a smooth experience. The Low preset provides a very playable 103 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is ranked 625th out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the top 16.8% of all configurations tested for this game. This is a respectable ranking, but it is not at the very top, which is likely dominated by more balanced, modern pairings.

The rank suggests that while the RTX 4080 is a top-tier GPU, the overall system performance is held back by the older CPU. The Ryzen 5 2600's 75th percentile CPU ranking, contrasted with the RTX 4080's 86th percentile GPU ranking, indicates a mismatch in potential. A system with a more powerful CPU would likely rank higher, as the GPU would be able to flex its full muscle, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU overhead is more significant. The combo's position in the rankings reflects the RTX 4080's raw power, but it also highlights the fact that this pairing leaves some performance on the table.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a powerhouse, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a massive 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2205 MHz, boosting to 2505 MHz, and it is built on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture. Its Passmark G3D score is 34457, ranking it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The data shows that its nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which scores 54209, a mere 0.1% difference from the RTX 4080's 54247 average score.

In Hitman 2, the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K resolution. The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K is steep, confirming that the game's visual effects and rendering resolutions heavily tax the GPU. The RTX 4080's massive compute power (48.74 TFLOPS) ensures that it can handle the game's DX12 workloads, but the measured FPS shows that even this GPU cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K with the Ultra preset, which includes heavy use of shadows, reflections, and other effects. The GPU's performance is robust, but the CPU seems unable to feed it enough data at lower resolutions to reach the frame rates that the GPU could theoretically produce.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the system is capable of very high frame rates. With Low settings, it averages 197 FPS. Moving to Medium, the average is 178 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 204 FPS. The High preset yields 160 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 126 FPS.

At 1440p, the frame rates are still high but show a clear decline. The Low preset averages 170 FPS. The Medium preset averages 145 FPS with a range of 123 to 167 FPS. High settings produce 110 FPS, and Ultra drops to 81 FPS.

At 4K, the performance becomes more demanding. The Low preset still delivers a playable 103 FPS. The Medium preset averages 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS. The High preset averages 58 FPS, which is at the edge of smoothness. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, producing an average of only 43 FPS.

The data shows that the gap between Low and High settings is significant at every resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 37 FPS (197 vs 160). At 1440p, it's 60 FPS (170 vs 110). At 4K, the difference is 45 FPS (103 vs 58). The largest drop from a single setting change is from Low to Medium at 1080p (19 FPS), while the jump from Medium to High at 1440p (35 FPS) is the most impactful.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the "High" preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this system. At 1440p, it delivers 110 FPS, which is smooth and responsive, and it remains playable at 1080p with 160 FPS. At 4K, the High preset drops to 58 FPS, which is on the border of the 60 FPS target, but still acceptable for a single-player stealth game.

For players prioritizing a higher frame rate, the "Medium" preset is an excellent choice. At 1440p, it provides 145 FPS, which is a significant improvement over High and will satisfy most high-refresh-rate monitor users. The minimum FPS of 123 also indicates good frame pacing stability. At 1080p, Medium yields 178 FPS, which is excellent. At 4K, Medium gives 77 FPS, which is a more comfortable margin above 60 FPS than High.

The "Ultra" preset is not recommended for this pairing. The performance cost is too high, particularly at 4K where it dips to 43 FPS, which can feel stuttery. Even at 1080p, the 126 FPS on Ultra is a 21% reduction from High, and the visual difference is likely not worth the hit to smoothness. The "Low" preset is only useful for pushing extreme frame rates, but it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game like Hitman 2, where immersion is key. The optimal experience is to use the Medium or High preset at 1440p, depending on whether one prioritizes frame rate or visual richness.