Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing delivers a profoundly resolution-dependent experience in Hitman 2, with the data revealing a system that is heavily GPU-bound at 4K but increasingly CPU-limited as resolution drops. At 1080p, the combo produces an average of 226 FPS on Low settings, yet this figure falls to 116 FPS on Ultra—a stark indication that even a high-end GPU like the RTX 4070 Ti is being constrained by the six-core Zen 2 processor at lower resolutions. The measured FPS curve shows a monotonic decline from 226 FPS (1080p Low) to 95 FPS (4K Low), a 131 FPS drop that highlights the scaling penalty of moving to 2160p. The RTX 4070 Ti, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is capable of far more at 1080p than the Ryzen 5 3600 can feed, making the CPU the primary bottleneck in that regime.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in Hitman 2 for this CPU-GPU combo is textbook for a system where the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as pixel count rises. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average FPS drops from 157 to 101, a 35.7% reduction. The subsequent step from 1440p to 3840x2160 at High settings sees the average fall further to 54 FPS, a 46.5% decline from the 1440p result. This accelerating drop-off pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is being saturated at 4K, where the RTX 4070 Ti's 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate are fully engaged.

The Low settings data provides a clearer picture of the CPU ceiling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 226 FPS, but this only drops to 177 FPS at 1440p Low (a 21.7% reduction) and then to 95 FPS at 4K Low (a 46.3% reduction from 1440p). The relatively modest decline from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests the CPU—with its 3.60 GHz base and 4.20 GHz boost clocks on six cores and twelve threads—is still able to keep up with the GPU's output at these settings. However, the steep 4K Low drop indicates that even the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory interface begin to struggle when pixel count quadruples.

The Medium settings rows, which include min and max FPS data, further illustrate the scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average is 203 FPS with a range of 173-234 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 133 FPS with a range of 113-153 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 71 FPS with a range of 60-82 FPS. The min FPS at 4K Medium (60 FPS) is notably close to the average at 4K High (54 FPS), suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional demands push the GPU past its comfortable operating envelope.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global context of tested combinations for Hitman 2, this pairing ranks 628th out of 3,711 combos, placing it in the top 16.9% of all tested systems. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 71st percentile standing among all processors and the GPU's 84th percentile among all graphics cards. The data shows that while the RTX 4070 Ti is a top-tier GPU, the Ryzen 5 3600's lower percentile ranking pulls the overall combo down from what a newer, higher-clocked CPU might achieve.

The CPU's nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores illustrate its position: the Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17,007 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i5-11400 scores 17,067 (0.2% lower), and the AMD EPYC 7742 scores 16,998 (0.2% higher). These sub-1% differences indicate that the Ryzen 5 3600 is positioned in an extremely tight cluster of processors, where no meaningful performance separation exists in synthetic tests. For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar clustering: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile scores 45,152 (-0.8% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 45,384 (-1.3%), and the Intel Arc A730M scores 45,592 (-1.7%). The RTX 4070 Ti's average benchmark score of 44,795 is within 2% of these alternatives, suggesting that the GPU's gaming performance in this title is consistent with its synthetic standing.

The combo rank of 628 out of 3,711 is significant because it places this system above the vast majority of tested configurations, yet the data reveals that the CPU is the limiting factor in many scenarios. In a game like Hitman 2, which is known for its complex AI and physics simulations, the Ryzen 5 3600's 6-core, 12-thread configuration with 32 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate but not exceptional headroom.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 bottlenecking the RTX 4070 Ti in Hitman 2?

A: The data indicates yes, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 226 FPS, but the CPU's 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock limit how many frames the GPU can be fed. The 1080p Ultra result of 116 FPS, versus 4K Low's 95 FPS, shows that the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates, but the GPU is not being fully utilized at 1080p due to the CPU's threading and clock constraints.

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

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with High settings provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, yielding 101 FPS average. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the 1440p High result is 47 FPS higher than the 4K High result (54 FPS), while only being 56 FPS lower than the 1080p High result (157 FPS). The 1440p Medium setting offers 133 FPS, which is smoother but at slightly reduced visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti's 12 GB VRAM affect performance?

A: The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory, paired with a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is sufficient for Hitman 2 at all tested settings, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS being the only sub-60 FPS average. The memory bandwidth appears adequate, as the 4K Medium result (71 FPS) shows a reasonable 32 FPS improvement over 4K Ultra, indicating that the GPU's compute and memory subsystems are not severely VRAM-limited.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance relative to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 scores 15,045 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,318 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks—the Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Core i5-11400, and AMD EPYC 7742—all score within 0.2% of the Ryzen 5 3600's average of 17,035. This indicates that despite being a 2019 release on the Zen 2 architecture, the CPU remains competitive in multi-threaded workloads.

Q: Does the 4K Ultra preset provide a playable experience?

A: No, the 4K Ultra setting yields an average of 39 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K Medium setting (71 FPS) is the highest quality preset at 4K that maintains an acceptable frame rate, while 4K High (54 FPS) falls slightly short of the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Hitman 2 spans four presets and three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 226 FPS, Medium produces 203 FPS (with a range of 173-234 FPS), High produces 157 FPS, and Ultra produces 116 FPS. The 1080p Medium range, spanning 61 FPS, shows significant frame-time variance, indicating that the CPU is occasionally stalling the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 177 FPS, Medium at 133 FPS (range 113-153 FPS), High at 101 FPS, and Ultra at 74 FPS. The 1440p Medium range of 40 FPS is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor, which stabilizes frame delivery. The 1440p results show a consistent 24-25% reduction from 1080p across all settings, which aligns with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 95 FPS, Medium at 71 FPS (range 60-82 FPS), High at 54 FPS, and Ultra at 39 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 60 FPS is exactly at the playable threshold, while the 4K High and Ultra averages fall below it. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 56 FPS drop, which is the largest absolute decline across all resolutions, underscoring the GPU's workload saturation at 2160p.

Settings Recommendations

The data supports a clear recommendation for 1440p High as the optimal experience. This setting yields 101 FPS average, which provides smooth gameplay while retaining the visual quality of the High preset. The 1440p Ultra setting, at 74 FPS, is also playable and offers a 27 FPS improvement over 4K High (54 FPS) with better image quality than 1440p High, but the 101 FPS of 1440p High provides a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rate, 1080p Ultra at 116 FPS is the best choice, as it delivers the highest visual fidelity at 1080p while maintaining a triple-digit average. The 1080p Medium setting at 203 FPS is excessive for most displays and offers diminishing returns over the 157 FPS of 1080p High. At 4K, the Medium preset (71 FPS) is the only viable option, as 4K High (54 FPS) and 4K Ultra (39 FPS) fall below playable thresholds.

The 4K Medium minimum of 60 FPS suggests that this setting is right at the edge of the GPU's capability, and users with variable refresh rate displays may perceive occasional dips below 60 FPS. The 1440p Medium setting (133 FPS) is a strong alternative for those who prefer higher frame rates over Ultra settings, as it provides a 32 FPS improvement over 1440p High while only sacrificing some shadow and texture quality.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600, built on the Zen 2 architecture with a 7 nm process, provides six cores and twelve threads with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for Hitman 2's AI-driven gameplay, but the data shows the CPU's limitations at high frame rates. The 3DMark single-thread score of 696 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,124 indicate modest single-thread performance, which is critical for Hitman 2's game logic.

The CPU's benchmark profile shows a 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,605 and a max-thread score of 4,603, which is nearly identical, indicating that the 6-core/12-thread configuration is fully utilized at 16 threads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,045 and Geekbench multi-core score of 7,372 place the CPU in a competitive position against its nearest rivals, all within 0.2% of the 17,035 average benchmark score. The PassMark multi-thread score of 17,700 and integer math score of 48,607 demonstrate strong compute capability for the CPU's age.

At 1080p Low (226 FPS), the CPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the RTX 4070 Ti is capable of far higher frame rates. The 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra transition (116 to 74 FPS) shows a 36.2% reduction, which is slightly less than the pixel count increase of 78%, indicating that the CPU is still contributing to the frame rate at 1440p. The 4K results, where the CPU's role diminishes, show that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck at 2160p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, features 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Its base clock of 2310 MHz and boost clock of 2610 MHz, combined with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus providing 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, make it a high-end GPU for 1440p and entry-level 4K gaming. The GPU's 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 60 RT cores support Hitman 2's DirectX 12 rendering, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,024.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a PassMark G3D score of 31,624 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 213,808, positioning it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals—the RTX 5090 Mobile (-0.8%), Radeon Pro 5500 XT (-1.3%), and RTX A6000 (+1.6%)—exhibit a tight clustering of scores, indicating that the RTX 4070 Ti's performance is representative of its class. The GPU compute score of 18,396 in PassMark shows strong compute throughput, which benefits Hitman 2's particle effects and lighting calculations.

The GPU's performance in Hitman 2 is characterized by its ability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p while struggling at 4K Ultra. The 4K Ultra average of 39 FPS is a 45.8% reduction from 4K High (54 FPS), which is a larger drop than the 1080p Ultra to 1080p High reduction (116 to 157 FPS, a 26.1% improvement for High). This indicates that the Ultra preset's additional effects—likely including higher-resolution textures and more complex shadows—saturate the GPU's 12 GB VRAM and 208.8 GPixel/s pixel rate. The GPU's 626.4 GTexel/s texture rate and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for 1440p High (101 FPS), but the 4K Ultra setting pushes the hardware beyond its optimal operating point.