Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and Radeon RX 580 pairing presents a classic mid-range combination, but in Hitman 2, the data reveals that the GPU is the primary constraint. This analysis examines the measured performance across resolutions and settings to determine the optimal configuration for this specific hardware pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data shows a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 75.2 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that crosses the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. The Medium preset follows at 60.5 FPS, while High drops to 45.3 FPS and Ultra falls to 32.8 FPS.

The most effective experience balances visual fidelity with playability. The Medium preset at 1080p is the strongest recommendation. It delivers an average frame rate that is only 14.7 FPS lower than Low, but it represents a substantial visual upgrade over the bare-bones Low preset. The High preset at 1080p, while offering better image quality, drops to 45.3 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold that most players expect from a stealth game requiring precise timing.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset here averages 48.5 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium drops to 38.6 FPS, and High falls to 26.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution is essentially unusable at 20.5 FPS. For 1440p users, the Low preset is the only reasonable choice, as it is the sole configuration that maintains a frame rate above 45 FPS.

At 3840x2160, all presets produce sub-30 FPS results. The best option, Low, averages 26.3 FPS, while Medium manages 20.6 FPS, High drops to 14.5 FPS, and Ultra is a slideshow at 12.0 FPS. None of these are recommended for competitive play, but the Low preset is the only one that approaches playability. The data strongly suggests that 4K is beyond the capabilities of this GPU in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1080p monitor with this hardware?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides an average of 60.5 FPS, which is the ideal balance between performance and visual quality. It is only 14.7 FPS slower than Low but offers significantly better visuals.

Q: Can this combination handle 1440p gaming in Hitman 2?

A: Yes, but only with reduced settings. The Low preset at 2560x1440 averages 48.5 FPS, which is playable, whereas Medium drops to 38.6 FPS and High falls to 26.6 FPS.

Q: Is 4K resolution viable for this game with the RX 580?

A: No. The highest average frame rate at 3840x2160 is 26.3 FPS on the Low preset, with Ultra dropping to 12.0 FPS. All 4K configurations fall well below acceptable playability standards.

Q: How much performance is gained by switching from Ultra to Low at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 32.8 FPS while Low averages 75.2 FPS, representing a 42.4 FPS improvement, or more than double the frame rate.

Q: What does the performance scaling between 1080p and 1440p indicate about the system bottleneck?

A: The frame rate drops significantly when moving from 1080p to 1440p across all settings. For example, High falls from 45.3 FPS to 26.6 FPS. This strong resolution sensitivity indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as a CPU bottleneck would show less variation with resolution changes.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600 sufficient for this game, or is the GPU holding it back?

A: The CPU has a percentile rank of 79 against all CPUs, with strong multi-threaded performance scores. The dramatic frame rate drops with increasing resolution point to the Radeon RX 580, which sits at the 53rd percentile for GPUs, as the performance ceiling.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, built on the Zen 3 architecture. It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark results are solid for a mainstream desktop chip. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,309 and single-core score of 2,584 indicate that the CPU has ample headroom for gaming workloads.

In the context of Hitman 2, which is a stealth game that does not typically require extreme multi-core scaling, the Ryzen 5 5600's 12 threads provide more than enough processing power. The PassMark multi-thread score of 21,541 and single-thread score of 3,256 reinforce that this is a capable gaming processor. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests it is well above average for gaming tasks.

The data from the measured frame rates points to the CPU not being the primary bottleneck. When the resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the frame rates drop dramatically across all settings. For instance, the High preset falls from 45.3 FPS at 1080p to 14.5 FPS at 4K. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain relatively constant as resolution increases, since the CPU workload would not change significantly. Instead, the heavy drops indicate that the GPU is struggling to render the increased pixel count.

The Ryzen 5 5600's L3 cache of 32 MB and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game's engine. The processor's 65W TDP and 7nm process node contribute to efficient operation, but these characteristics do not directly impact Hitman 2's frame rates. The data suggests that the CPU is delivering frames as fast as the GPU can render them, making the RX 580 the definitive performance limiter in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD Radeon RX 580 ranks 1664 out of 1795 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the combo in the bottom 7.3% of all tested configurations, which is a low ranking considering the individual components' positions. The CPU alone ranks in the 79th percentile, while the GPU is in the 53rd percentile.

The disparity between the component rankings and the combo ranking is notable. The low combo rank is primarily attributable to the GPU's performance in this title. The RX 580's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 with a deltaPct of 0.0 and the GeForce GTX 950 with a deltaPct of 0.1. These cards are significantly older and less capable than modern GPUs, yet they produce similar average benchmark scores. The GPU's average benchmark score of 13,559 places it in the lower half of available graphics cards.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a different story. The Intel Xeon D-1746TER has a deltaPct of 0.6, while the AMD EPYC 9554P and EPYC 9534 are both at -0.6. These are server-class processors, indicating that the Ryzen 5 5600's performance is competitive with much more expensive enterprise hardware in synthetic benchmarks. However, this CPU strength does not translate to a high combo rank because the GPU cannot keep up.

The data indicates that the combo's rank is dragged down almost entirely by the GPU. The 53rd percentile GPU ranking means that half of all GPUs tested perform better, and this directly impacts the playability of Hitman 2 at higher resolutions and settings. The combo rank of 1664 out of 1795 is a clear signal that while the CPU is a strong performer, the overall system is held back by the graphics card in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a steep performance decline as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average frame rate is 45.3 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 26.6 FPS, a reduction of 18.7 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 14.5 FPS, which is a further drop of 12.1 FPS. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets.

The Low preset shows the same scaling trend. At 1080p, it averages 75.2 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 48.5 FPS, and at 4K, it reaches 26.3 FPS. The Medium preset follows suit: 60.5 FPS at 1080p, 38.6 FPS at 1440p, and 20.6 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 32.8 FPS at 1080p, 20.5 FPS at 1440p, and 12.0 FPS at 4K.

The percentage drops are significant. For High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p results in a 41.3% reduction in frame rate. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is another 45.5%. This level of scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The rendering workload increases quadratically with resolution, and the RX 580's 256-bit memory bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to handle the increased data throughput at higher resolutions.

The RX 580's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory provides enough capacity for the textures used in Hitman 2, but the 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power limits the pixel fill rate. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s means the GPU can only output so many pixels per second, and at 4K the demand exceeds this capability. The data clearly shows that this system is designed for 1080p gaming, with playable performance at that resolution and acceptable, though reduced, performance at 1440p on the lowest settings. The 4K results are uniformly poor, indicating that the RX 580 is not a viable 4K gaming solution for this title.