Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER pairing in Hitman 2 presents a fascinating case study in system bottlenecking, where the data reveals a component that shifts its influence dramatically depending on the resolution and quality preset selected. The measured FPS across the board shows a stealth game that is surprisingly demanding at its highest settings, yet scales in a way that offers clear strategic choices for the player.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K is not a linear drop; it is a cliff edge that exposes the GPU's limitations. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 161.2 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to keep the frame rate high. Moving to 1440p Low drops performance to 102 FPS, a 36.7% reduction, and then to 4K Low it falls to 53.4 FPS, a further 47.6% cut. This pattern is classic evidence of a GPU that is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

The story becomes even more pronounced at the highest quality settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 68.2 FPS, which is still playable. However, stepping up to 1440p Ultra reduces the average to 42 FPS, and then 4K Ultra delivers a nearly unplayable 24.4 FPS. The delta between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is a staggering 64.2% loss in performance. This indicates that while the RTX 2070 SUPER has enough raw power for high-refresh gaming at 1080p, its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and overall throughput are decisively overwhelmed by the combined load of 4K resolution and the most demanding visual presets. The data implies that Hitman 2 at 4K is strictly a high-fidelity, low-frame-rate experience for this hardware, not a competitive or smooth one.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, built on the 12 nm Turing architecture with a TU104 chip, is the clear limiting factor in this equation. Its boost clock of 1770 MHz and 2560 shading units provide a solid foundation, yet the benchmark results show that its 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM are what ultimately cap performance in higher resolutions. The difference between 1440p Ultra (42 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (68.2 FPS) highlights how sensitive the card is to memory pressure and fill rate. The card's pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are sufficient for 1080p but are pushed to their limits at 4K, where the 24.4 FPS Ultra result suggests a severe bottleneck.

Interestingly, the GPU's performance percentile of 65 places it in the mid-to-upper tier, but its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 5700, which scores a 2.5% delta. This proximity in raw compute does not translate to identical gaming experiences, as the game's specific engine seems to favor the NVIDIA architecture. The data suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER is a capable 1440p card for this title, but it is not a 4K card, and its performance at 4K Low (53.4 FPS) versus 1440p High (58.9 FPS) shows that players must make significant compromises to achieve playable frame rates at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Interpreting the measured rows, the optimal experience hinges on the target resolution. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 93.9 FPS offers a superior balance of visual fidelity and fluidity, nearly hitting the 100 FPS mark. While Ultra provides 68.2 FPS, the jump from High to Ultra costs 25.7 FPS, a significant drop for marginal visual gains in a stealth game where clarity is more important than particle effects. For 1440p, the data strongly recommends the High preset at 58.9 FPS, which is just under the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 80 FPS is also viable for those prioritizing frame rate, but High represents the sweet spot where the game's detailed environments remain intact without sacrificing responsiveness. At 4K, the situation is dire; only the Low preset at 53.4 FPS approaches playability. The Medium preset at 41.3 FPS is a compromise, but the High (32.1 FPS) and Ultra (24.4 FPS) presets are too choppy for the precise movement required in a stealth title. Therefore, the data suggests that 1440p High is the definitive "best experience" for this hardware, offering a stable frame rate that leverages the GPU's strengths without exposing its weaknesses.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1092 out of 1795 combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the 39th percentile of all systems tested, indicating that while it is not a top-tier configuration, it is far from the bottom. This middling rank is surprising given the individual components' respectable standings; the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The discrepancy between the component-level percentiles and the in-game combo rank suggests that Hitman 2 is particularly sensitive to the GPU's limitations, dragging the overall system ranking down. The data implies that many other combinations, perhaps with slightly weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this specific title, underscoring the game's role as a GPU-bound workload at higher settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600, a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 3 architecture, is not the bottleneck in this scenario. With a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and a substantial 32 MB of L3 cache, its benchmark scores are formidable; its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18309 and single-core score of 2584 demonstrate strong processing power. The CPU's role becomes clear when examining the 1080p Low results. At 161.2 FPS, the system is likely approaching a CPU-induced ceiling, as the graphics card is not being stressed at these low settings. The 3DMark scores, such as 5641 for 16 threads and 882 for single-thread, show a balanced processor capable of handling the game's AI and physics calculations.

However, the data reveals that the CPU's influence wanes as resolution increases. The performance drop from 1080p Low (161.2 FPS) to 1440p Low (102 FPS) is entirely attributable to the GPU, not the CPU. In this game, the Ryzen 5 5600 provides ample headroom; it is never the limiting factor in the higher resolution tests. Its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks, the Intel Core i7-11700F, scores a 0.9% delta, indicating that the AMD chip is competitive with Intel's offerings in this class. For Hitman 2, the data suggests that the Ryzen 5 5600 is a silent partner, ensuring that the RTX 2070 SUPER is always the component that determines the final frame rate.

FAQ

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: The data indicates that 4K is only viable at Low settings, where it averages 53.4 FPS. At Ultra settings, performance drops to 24.4 FPS, which is not smooth enough for the game's stealth mechanics.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: According to the measured FPS, 1440p with High settings offers the best balance, producing 58.9 FPS. This is close to the 60 FPS target while maintaining high visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival, the RX 5700?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 2070 SUPER scores 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700, but the in-game data shows this translates to a playable experience at 1440p, which is the card's intended use case.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600 holding back the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: No, the CPU's strong single-thread performance (882 in 3DMark single-thread) ensures it is not a bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU is the limiting factor, as seen in the 4K Ultra result of 24.4 FPS.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, High settings yield 93.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 68.2 FPS. This 25.7 FPS difference is a significant cost for the additional visual features in Ultra.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1092 out of 1795 combos, placing it in the lower half of systems tested for Hitman 2, despite the individual components being above average in their respective benchmarks.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact average FPS figures from the benchmark data for each resolution and settings preset.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 32.1 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 53.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 41.3 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 24.4 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 58.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 102.0 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 80.0 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 42.0 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 93.9 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 161.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 117.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 68.2 |