Hitman 2

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

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D shows a clear, predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. This variance is the key to understanding which component is the bottleneck at each setting.

At the Ultra preset, the scaling is steep. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 153 to 98, a reduction of 55 FPS. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 52 FPS, another 46 FPS loss. The total scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is a 101 FPS drop, representing a 66% reduction in frame rate. This dramatic falloff strongly suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at Ultra settings. The RTX 5090 D is being pushed to its limits by the combination of high resolution and the most demanding visual fidelity, with the 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS indicating that even this flagship GPU cannot maintain high refresh rates under maximum load.

In contrast, the Low preset shows a much flatter scaling curve. The average FPS at 1920x1080 is 247, dropping to 213 at 2560x1440, and then to 124 at 3840x2160. While there is still a significant drop from 1440p to 4K (89 FPS), the 1080p to 1440p transition only costs 34 FPS. The 4K Low result of 124 FPS is still very high, suggesting that at lower settings, the GPU has ample headroom and the CPU begins to play a more substantial role, particularly at lower resolutions where the frame rate ceiling is very high.

The High and Medium presets sit between these two extremes. At High, the averages are 201 FPS (1080p), 132 FPS (1440p), and 71 FPS (4K). At Medium, they are 223 FPS (1080p), 175 FPS (1440p), and 93 FPS (4K). The Medium preset shows the most linear scaling, with a 48 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 82 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K.

The data indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the dominant bottleneck at 4K across all settings, as the sheer pixel count overwhelms the GPU. However, the relatively small difference between the 1080p and 1440p results at Low settings (a 34 FPS gap) versus the larger gap at Ultra (a 55 FPS gap) reveals that the Ryzen 5 5600F is more likely to be a limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings. The 1080p Low result of 247 FPS is a strong indicator of the CPU's capability, but the scaling pattern suggests that the GPU still carries the majority of the load.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a formidable piece of hardware, and its specifications directly explain its performance characteristics in Hitman 2. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. For a game like Hitman 2, which is not typically known for extreme VRAM consumption at 1080p or 1440p, this capacity is far beyond what is necessary. This means that VRAM capacity is effectively a non-factor in the measured results; the GPU will not be spilling over into system memory, and texture loading will be fluid.

The GPU's clock speeds are also notable. The base clock is 2017 MHz, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 28 Gbps effective. These high clocks contribute to the GPU's raw compute power, which is rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. This immense throughput is what allows the RTX 5090 D to achieve high frame rates even at 4K resolution, though the Ultra preset still proves to be a challenging workload.

The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is the most telling number for the GPU's role. It shows that even with 32 GB of VRAM and 104.8 TFLOPS of compute power, the most demanding settings in Hitman 2 can still bring this card to its knees. This is not a memory bandwidth issue, but rather a pure pixel-pushing and shading throughput limitation. The GPU's 21760 shading units are being fully utilized, and the 176 ROPs are tasked with filling the 3840x2160 framebuffer, resulting in a frame rate that is playable but not optimal for high-refresh-rate displays.

In contrast, the 4K Low result of 124 FPS demonstrates the GPU's headroom when the rendering load is reduced. At this setting, the GPU is less constrained, and the frame rate is likely more influenced by the CPU's ability to feed the graphics pipeline. The data shows a clear hierarchy: the RTX 5090 D excels when the visual settings are moderate, but it is not invincible at maximum quality.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with Ultra settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 52 FPS.

Q: How does the 1080p Ultra performance compare to the 4K Ultra performance?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 153, which is 101 FPS higher than the 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS, indicating a 66% performance drop when scaling to 4K.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its highest frame rate?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 247, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of VRAM a limiting factor in Hitman 2?

A: No. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far more than sufficient for Hitman 2, and the benchmark results indicate that VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck at any of the tested resolutions or settings.

Q: What is the frame rate range at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 175, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the main bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The 1080p Low result of 247 FPS is very high, and the relatively smaller drop to 213 FPS at 1440p Low suggests that the CPU is starting to become more influential at these lower loads, though the GPU still handles the primary rendering duties.

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

The complete measured FPS dataset for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Hitman 2 is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 247 FPS
• Medium: Average 223 FPS, Minimum 189 FPS, Maximum 256 FPS
• High: Average 201 FPS
• Ultra: Average 153 FPS

At 1080p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is a 94 FPS drop. The Medium preset shows a tight frame time distribution with a 67 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The High preset sits 22 FPS below Medium, while Ultra is 48 FPS below High.

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 213 FPS
• Medium: Average 175 FPS, Minimum 149 FPS, Maximum 201 FPS
• High: Average 132 FPS
• Ultra: Average 98 FPS

The 1440p results show a similar pattern, with a 115 FPS difference between Low and Ultra. The Medium preset again has the only recorded minimum and maximum values, with a 52 FPS spread. The High preset at 132 FPS is 43 FPS below Medium, and Ultra is 34 FPS below High.

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 124 FPS
• Medium: Average 93 FPS, Minimum 79 FPS, Maximum 107 FPS
• High: Average 71 FPS
• Ultra: Average 52 FPS

At 4K, the Low to Ultra spread is 72 FPS. The Medium preset shows a 28 FPS spread between its minimum and maximum. The High preset is 22 FPS below Medium, and Ultra is 19 FPS below High. This tighter scaling at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the absolute bottleneck, with each settings tier having a more consistent impact on performance.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum FPS data across all three resolutions, providing the most detailed view of frame time variance. At 1080p, the Medium preset ranges from 189 to 256 FPS, at 1440p from 149 to 201 FPS, and at 4K from 79 to 107 FPS.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. This is a modern, capable gaming CPU, and its performance in Hitman 2 is reflected in the high frame rates achieved at lower resolutions and settings.

The CPU's role in the measured results is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the average FPS reaches 247. This is a very high frame rate that requires the CPU to process game logic, AI, and draw calls at a rapid pace. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to handle this workload, and the 4.00 GHz boost clock helps to minimize latency. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 2872 and multithread score of 19236 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong performance relative to other processors.

However, the CPU's influence wanes as the resolution increases. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and the CPU has more than enough headroom to keep up with the GPU's rendering pace. The 4K Low result of 124 FPS is a good example: the CPU is not struggling to feed the GPU, but the GPU is limited by the pixel count.

The Ryzen 5 5600F's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core are also relevant. Hitman 2 benefits from cache-sensitive workloads, and the Zen 3 architecture's large L3 cache helps to reduce memory latency, which can improve frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's support for DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s is another factor, though the measured data suggests that memory bandwidth is not a limiting constraint for this game.

The nearest rivals for the CPU, based on average benchmark scores, are the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (deltaPct 0), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (deltaPct -0.2), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (deltaPct -0.4), and the Intel Core i9-12900T (deltaPct -0.5). These very small deltas indicate that the Ryzen 5 5600F is competitively positioned, and none of these rivals would likely produce significantly different results in this game when paired with the same GPU.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the user's resolution and performance goals. The data shows clear trade-offs between visual fidelity and frame rate.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the Medium preset is the most balanced choice. It delivers an average of 93 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and it has a minimum of 79 FPS, ensuring that frame drops are kept in check. The High preset at 71 FPS is also playable, but the drop below 60 FPS in demanding scenes is a risk. The Ultra preset at 52 FPS is below the ideal threshold and should be avoided for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The Low preset at 124 FPS is the fastest, but it compromises visual quality significantly. The Medium preset offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance at 4K.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the High preset is a strong recommendation. It delivers an average of 132 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 98 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rate. The Medium preset at 175 FPS is overkill for most 1440p displays (which typically cap at 144Hz or 165Hz), and the Low preset at 213 FPS offers no practical benefit unless the user has a 240Hz+ monitor. For the best balance, High is the sweet spot, providing a significant visual upgrade over Medium while still maintaining a frame rate that exceeds most display refresh rates.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Ultra preset is the recommended choice. It delivers an average of 153 FPS, which is still very high and will satisfy most users. The High preset at 201 FPS is also excellent, but the visual improvements from High to Ultra are worth the 48 FPS cost for most players. The Medium preset at 223 FPS and Low preset at 247 FPS are excessive for 1080p displays, as they exceed the refresh rate of almost all monitors on the market. The Ultra preset provides the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness, as 153 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold and is sufficient for all but the most demanding esports players.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination is ranked 129th out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places the combo in the top 4.3% of all tested configurations, which is a very strong result. The rank is based on the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings, and it reflects the overall capability of the pairing.

This high rank is primarily driven by the RTX 5090 D's exceptional performance, as it is one of the most powerful GPUs on the market, with a percentile ranking of 92 against all GPUs. The CPU, while not the absolute top-tier, is also quite capable, with a percentile ranking of 85 against all CPUs. The combination of a top-tier GPU with a solid mid-to-high-range CPU results in a system that excels in Hitman 2, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's power is fully utilized.

The fact that this combo ranks 129th out of 3001 means that there are 128 other configurations that perform better. These are likely to be pairings that include even more powerful CPUs, such as the Ryzen 7, Ryzen 9, or Core i7/i9 series, which can provide a slight edge in CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p. However, the difference in overall performance is likely to be small, as the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates in most of the tested settings.

The rank also indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600F is not a significant bottleneck for the RTX 5090 D in this game. While a more powerful CPU might yield higher frame rates at 1080p Low settings, the overall average performance across all settings is still excellent. The data shows that this combo is a high-performing pairing that will deliver a smooth and enjoyable experience in Hitman 2 at any resolution, with the caveat that 4K Ultra settings will require a compromise on frame rate. The 129th rank reflects the raw power of the RTX 5090 D, and the Ryzen 5 5600F does not hold it back in any meaningful way.