Hitman 2

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's L3 cache totals 32 MB shared across all cores, while L1 and L2 caches are allocated per core at 64 KB and 512 KB respectively.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 3600 posts a multicore score of 15,045 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 2,124 in the same test. The 3DMark suite shows a max-thread score of 4,603 and a single-thread score of 696. These figures place the processor at the 76th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18,129.

For Hitman 2, a stealth title that emphasizes crowd simulation and AI pathfinding, the CPU's thread count and per-core throughput matter. The measured frame rates show that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 226.1 FPS average. This high ceiling indicates the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at lower resolutions where the graphics card is not the primary constraint. The 12 threads allow the game's background simulation tasks to run concurrently with rendering work, which is typical for this genre where many NPCs are tracked simultaneously.

The Ryzen 5 3600's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score are the Intel Core i5-11400 with a deltaPct of -0.1, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at +0.2, the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 at -0.2, and the AMD EPYC 9274F at -0.3. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the 3600 sits in a tightly contested performance band. For Hitman 2 specifically, the CPU's ability to maintain high minimum frame rates in crowded scenes is more relevant than raw multithreaded throughput, and the data reflects a balanced profile.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti achieves a rank of 517 out of 1,795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places the pairing in the top 28.8% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the combined capability of both components, and the data indicates that the GPU's strength is partially offset by the CPU's mid-range positioning.

To contextualize this rank: the RTX 3080 Ti alone sits at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 3600 sits at the 76th percentile among CPUs. The combo rank of 517 suggests that in Hitman 2, the CPU imposes a measurable ceiling on overall performance. If the GPU were paired with a faster processor, the rank would likely improve, but the current configuration still outperforms the majority of tested systems.

The nearest GPUs to the RTX 3080 Ti in aggregate benchmark score are the RTX 3090 with a deltaPct of -0.5, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at -0.9, the RTX 5070 at -1.1, and the Tesla M40 at -1.6. These deltas show the 3080 Ti is competitive with the 3090, trailing by only half a percent in average score. The fact that the combo still ranks 517 out of 1,795 implies that many other combinations with the 3080 Ti or similar GPUs are paired with stronger CPUs, pulling their overall game performance ahead.

The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 100.4 FPS, which is a strong result. However, the rank of 517 indicates that a significant number of tested systems surpass this level of performance, likely due to superior CPU headroom in a game that is not purely GPU-bound at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the measured FPS across resolutions reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 132.7 FPS at 1080p to 87.5 FPS at 1440p, and further to 48.1 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 45% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 3080 Ti becomes increasingly the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

At Low settings, the trend is steeper: 226.1 FPS at 1080p falls to 152.7 FPS at 1440p (a 32% drop) and then to 80.5 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop). The fact that Low settings at 1080p yields over 226 FPS suggests the CPU is not heavily stressed at that resolution, but the GPU still has to render each frame. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings is proportionally larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, which is consistent with the GPU's pixel throughput becoming the dominant constraint.

The Medium settings row shows a similar pattern: 178.4 FPS at 1080p, 113.8 FPS at 1440p, and 59.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% and 48% respectively. Ultra settings produce 100.4 FPS at 1080p, 61.1 FPS at 1440p, and 36.6 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset's 4K result of 36.6 FPS is the lowest measured value across all configurations, indicating that the combination of high pixel count and heavy graphical effects saturates the GPU's capabilities.

The scaling analysis shows that the CPU maintains adequate performance at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates at Low and Medium settings. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows disproportionately, and the frame rate declines at a rate that aligns with the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth characteristics. The RTX 3080 Ti's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivers 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 4K textures, but the raw compute load of 4K rendering still limits performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average frame rates across presets: Low hits 226.1 FPS, Medium reaches 178.4 FPS, High achieves 132.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 100.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 55.6% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent with the increasing graphical demands of each preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low at 152.7 FPS, Medium at 113.8 FPS, High at 87.5 FPS, and Ultra at 61.1 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is substantial: Low falls by 32.5%, Medium by 36.2%, High by 34.1%, and Ultra by 39.1%. The Ultra preset experiences the largest relative decline, suggesting that the added pixel count combined with Ultra's effects taxes the GPU more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 80.5 FPS, Medium at 59.5 FPS, High at 48.1 FPS, and Ultra at 36.6 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K yields drops of 47.3% for Low, 47.7% for Medium, 45.0% for High, and 40.1% for Ultra. Notably, the Ultra preset's percentage drop from 1440p to 4K is smaller than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, which may indicate that at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is approaching a floor where other bottlenecks (such as CPU draw call limits or memory latency) begin to moderate the decline.

Across all resolutions, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 125.7 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 91.6 FPS. At 4K, the difference narrows to 43.9 FPS. This narrowing gap suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even the reduced workload of Low settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process, featuring the GA102 chip with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory clocked at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). It ships with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. It also features 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The pixel rate is 186.5 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 532.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 34.10 TFLOPS.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution and settings rise. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 36.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players target. The GPU's average benchmark score of 41,224 places it at the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with the nearest rival being the RTX 3090 at a deltaPct of -0.5. This indicates the 3080 Ti is nearly on par with the 3090 in aggregate performance, yet the 4K Ultra result shows that Hitman 2's specific workload is demanding enough to push the GPU to its limits.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is relevant for Hitman 2's large, detailed environments. At 4K resolutions, texture data can consume significant memory, but the 3080 Ti's 12 GB allocation appears sufficient based on the measured results. The memory bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s supports high-resolution texture streaming without causing frame rate dips that would indicate VRAM exhaustion. The GPU's 350 W TDP and recommendation for a 750 W power supply are consistent with its high-performance positioning.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with even Ultra achieving 100.4 FPS. For users with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 178.4 FPS provides a substantial margin above 144 Hz displays, while High at 132.7 FPS still exceeds 120 Hz. The Low preset at 226.1 FPS is excessive for most displays but demonstrates the headroom available.

At 2560x1440, the High preset produces 87.5 FPS, which is suitable for 60 Hz or 75 Hz monitors. Medium at 113.8 FPS offers a smoother experience for 100 Hz displays, while Ultra at 61.1 FPS hovers just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset at 152.7 FPS is the most responsive option for competitive play, though it sacrifices visual fidelity. For a balanced experience at 1440p, the Medium preset provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate stability.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes significantly. The Ultra preset at 36.6 FPS is below playable standards for most users, resulting in noticeable stutter. High at 48.1 FPS is borderline, while Medium at 59.5 FPS approaches the 60 FPS target. Low at 80.5 FPS is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS at 4K. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 59.5 FPS offers the best trade-off, delivering near-60 FPS performance while retaining moderate visual enhancements over Low. The High preset at 48.1 FPS may be acceptable for users who prioritize image quality over smoothness, but the data suggests Medium is the practical ceiling for consistent frame rates at this resolution.

The measured rows show that the scaling from Medium to High at 4K costs approximately 11.4 FPS (from 59.5 to 48.1), which is a 19% reduction. The jump from High to Ultra costs an additional 11.5 FPS (from 48.1 to 36.6), another 24% reduction. These diminishing returns indicate that the Medium preset is the most efficient choice at 4K, as it retains the majority of visual fidelity while avoiding the steep performance penalties of higher presets.