Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a stealth title from late 2018, presents an interesting test case for the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. The benchmark data reveals a system where the GPU is the dominant factor at higher resolutions, but the CPU's capabilities become increasingly relevant as resolution drops. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data to understand the performance characteristics of this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern: as resolution increases, average frame rates drop. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 128 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces that to 82 FPS, and at 4K High, the average falls to 44 FPS. This scaling indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions, as the workload on the GPU increases significantly with each pixel count jump.

The transition from 1080p to 1440p represents a 36% decrease in average FPS at High settings. The subsequent jump from 1440p to 4K is even more severe, with a 46% reduction in frame rate. This non-linear drop suggests that the game's visual effects and shading complexity at 4K are particularly demanding on the GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 8704 shading units.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern confirms the GPU-bound nature of the system at higher resolutions. The RTX 3080 manages 227 FPS at 1080p Low, which drops to 145 FPS at 1440p Low, and then to 77 FPS at 4K Low. The 4K Low result being less than half of the 1080p Low result highlights how pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck, even when other graphical features are minimized.

The data at Medium settings provides the clearest view of the scaling curve, as this preset includes the only recorded minimum and maximum FPS values. At 4K Medium, the average is 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 and a maximum of 67. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 109 FPS with a range of 92 to 125. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 and a maximum of 195. The consistent spread between minimum and maximum FPS across resolutions suggests that while the GPU is the main limiter, there is no single frame spike that indicates a CPU stall.

Ultra settings reveal the most demanding scenario, with the 4K average dropping to 32 FPS. This is the only sub-60 FPS result at 4K, and it demonstrates that even a high-end GPU like the RTX 3080 cannot maintain smooth performance at maximum quality in this title. The scaling from 1080p Ultra at 95 FPS to 1440p Ultra at 61 FPS and then to 4K Ultra at 32 FPS shows a consistent halving of performance with each resolution step, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the centerpiece of this configuration, built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip. Its specifications include a base clock of 1440 MHz and a boost clock of 1710 MHz, which are the clock speeds that directly influence the measured frame rates. The GPU also features 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, which collectively handle the pixel and texture processing demands of Hitman 2.

The GPU's memory subsystem is particularly relevant to the 4K results. It has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The memory clock is listed as 1188 MHz, with 19 Gbps effective speed. This bandwidth is sufficient for the 4K High preset at 44 FPS, but the Ultra preset at 32 FPS suggests that the memory capacity or bandwidth may be strained by the highest texture and shadow quality settings.

The RTX 3080's percentile ranking among all GPUs is 68, with an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA P106-100 with a delta of -0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 at -0.3%, the AMD Radeon RX 6600M at -0.4%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X also at -0.4%. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the RTX 3080's raw compute performance is closely matched by several other cards in the database.

The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 29.77 TFLOPS for FP32, are what enable the high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. However, the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combination of the GPU's 68 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores does not provide enough raw throughput to maintain 60 FPS. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are high, but they are not sufficient to overcome the demands of the 3840x2160 resolution at maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 227, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 77. At Medium settings, the average drops to 58 FPS, and at High settings it falls to 44 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 compare to its nearest benchmark rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172, which is within 0.4% of the scores for the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average FPS is 128. At 4K High, the average FPS is 44, representing a 66% reduction in performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter, especially at higher resolutions. The 4K Ultra preset produces only 32 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset reaches 227 FPS, showing the GPU is overwhelmed by resolution and settings.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values at Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum FPS is 144. At 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 92. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 49.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data for this combination is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the average FPS varies significantly by preset. Low settings yield 227 FPS, Medium yields 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 and maximum of 195, High yields 128 FPS, and Ultra yields 95 FPS. The 1080p results show that the RTX 3080 has ample headroom at this resolution, with even the Ultra preset maintaining nearly 100 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops across all presets. Low settings produce 145 FPS, Medium produces 109 FPS with a minimum of 92 and maximum of 125, High produces 82 FPS, and Ultra produces 61 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result at 61 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this resolution is the practical ceiling for maximum quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops further. Low settings produce 77 FPS, Medium produces 58 FPS with a minimum of 49 and maximum of 67, High produces 44 FPS, and Ultra produces 32 FPS. The 4K results show a clear progression where each preset step costs approximately 15 FPS on average.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is roughly 30-50% depending on settings, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is even larger at 40-50%. This indicates that Hitman 2's rendering engine scales aggressively with pixel count, particularly at the transition to 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 95 FPS provides the best visual quality while maintaining a frame rate well above the standard 60 FPS target. The High preset at 128 FPS is also viable for users with high refresh rate monitors, as it offers a balance of quality and speed.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset at 61 FPS is the best choice for users prioritizing visual fidelity, as it just clears the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 82 FPS is a better option for those who want more headroom, while the Medium preset at 109 FPS is recommended for competitive play or high refresh rate displays.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 58 FPS is the most balanced option, as it provides playable performance while maintaining decent visual quality. The Low preset at 77 FPS is the only way to achieve a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices significant visual detail. The High preset at 44 FPS and Ultra preset at 32 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay, as they fall below the standard playability threshold.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combination, as it is the only preset where minimum FPS values are recorded across all resolutions. This indicates that the game is more stable at Medium settings, with the 4K Medium minimum of 49 FPS being the only recorded drop below 50 FPS across all tested configurations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Renoir. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache. This amounts to a total of 8 MB of L3 cache, which is relatively modest for a modern gaming CPU.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 13593 in multi-core and 1919 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 6637 in multi-core and 1460 in single-core. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 15992, and its single-thread score is 2653. The CPU's percentile ranking among all CPUs is 71, with an average benchmark score of 17507.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 5 4600G in the benchmark database are the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE with a delta of 0.1%, the Intel Core 7 150U with a delta of 0.6%, the AMD Ryzen 3 8300GE with a delta of -0.6%, and the Intel Core i3-14100T with a delta of -0.8%. These deltas are all within 1% of the 4600G's average score, indicating that the CPU's performance is closely matched by several other processors.

In the context of Hitman 2, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The measured data shows that at 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the FPS drops dramatically with increased settings. However, at 1080p Low, the CPU's single-thread performance of 1919 in Cinebench R23 becomes more relevant, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can feed them. The 227 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests that the CPU is capable of high frame rates, but the game's engine may be limited by the CPU's 8 MB of L3 cache or its 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is ranked 1078 out of 3711 total combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the top 29% of all tested combinations, indicating that it performs better than the majority of systems in this specific game.

The combo's rank is influenced by the RTX 3080's strong GPU performance, which is ranked in the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU's ranking in the 71st percentile among all CPUs also contributes positively, though the CPU's modest L3 cache and older Zen 2 architecture may limit performance in CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions.

Given that the combo ranks at 1078 out of 3711, it is positioned well within the upper half of tested systems. The data shows that the RTX 3080 is the main driver of this ranking, as its GPU-centric benchmark scores are high enough to compensate for the Ryzen 5 4600G's mid-range CPU performance. The delta between the RTX 3080 and its nearest rivals is minimal at -0.3% to -0.4%, which means that swapping the GPU for a comparable card would have little impact on the overall ranking.

The combo's performance in Hitman 2 is generally strong, with the 1080p High preset at 128 FPS and 1440p High at 82 FPS being particularly good results. The 4K Ultra result at 32 FPS is the weakest point, but this is expected given the demanding nature of the game's maximum settings. Overall, this combo is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring settings adjustments to maintain playable frame rates.