Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship combination in Hitman 2. The measured data shows this combo delivers extreme frame rates, but the scaling pattern across resolutions reveals where the bottleneck lies. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, ranking, and practical settings for this specific pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates how this game responds to the RTX 5090’s immense power. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 309 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 219 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls further to 117 FPS. That is a 62% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, which indicates the GPU is being pushed harder as resolution increases, yet the CPU still has headroom.

The High preset tells a similar story. At 1080p, the average is 194 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 124 FPS. At 4K, it lands at 66 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High is a 47% drop, which is substantial but not as steep as the Low preset’s drop. This suggests that at higher settings, the GPU workload increases more predictably, while at Low settings, the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 257 FPS with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 164 FPS, with a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. The frame time consistency is notable here, as the spread between min and max is relatively tight at each resolution, indicating stable performance.

Ultra settings show the heaviest load. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 143 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 91 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 49 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 66%, which is the steepest scaling across all presets. This pattern suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at Ultra settings, especially at 4K where the RTX 5090 is fully saturated.

The data shows that at 1080p, even the highest settings stay above 140 FPS, meaning the CPU is likely the ceiling for frame rates in this scenario. The Ryzen 5 7500X3D with its 6 cores and 12 threads, boosting to 4.50 GHz, appears to be a capable partner for the RTX 5090, but the 4K Ultra result of 49 FPS indicates that the GPU’s raw compute is stretched thin by this game’s rendering demands at that resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank for this pairing in Hitman 2 is 100 out of 3001 tested combinations. This places it in the top 3.3% of all tested combos, which is an exceptional result. The data indicates that this system is among the fastest configurations for this game, though not the absolute fastest.

Given that the RTX 5090 is a top-tier GPU with a percentile ranking of 92 against all GPUs, and the Ryzen 5 7500X3D has a percentile ranking of 89 against all CPUs, the combination of two high-percentile parts yields a top-100 finish. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 44573 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, which scores 44466, representing a delta of just 0.2%. This shows the 7500X3D is precisely competitive with the best mobile and desktop processors in synthetic tests.

The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, has an average score of 79605 compared to the RTX 5090’s 79842, a delta of 0.3%. This is a negligible difference in raw compute benchmarks, but in gaming, the RTX 5090’s modern architecture and features likely provide advantages that synthetic tests do not fully capture.

The rank of 100 out of 3001 means there are 99 other combos that achieve higher performance in this specific game. This could include configurations with even higher-end CPUs or overclocked variants. However, for a stock CPU and GPU pairing, this is a very strong showing. The data suggests that to beat this combo, systems would need either a CPU with higher single-thread performance or a GPU with more raw throughput, neither of which is common in the tested pool.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this combo for a high refresh rate monitor?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers over 140 FPS on all presets, with Low hitting 309 FPS and Medium hitting 257 FPS. At 1440p, High and Medium presets stay above 124 FPS and 164 FPS respectively, making 1440p the sweet spot for 144Hz displays without sacrificing visual quality.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 overkill for this game?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is only 49, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. This indicates the GPU is not overkill; it is the limiting factor at the highest settings and resolution. At lower settings, the GPU has headroom, but the 4K Ultra result shows it is fully utilized when maxing out the game.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7500X3D compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H, scores 44466, which is 0.2% slower. The Intel Core i9-13950HX scores 44342, which is 0.5% slower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 scores 44309, which is 0.6% slower. The only rival that beats it is the Intel Core i5-14600, which scores 44889, a 0.7% advantage.

Q: What settings provide the most balanced experience at 4K?

A: The Medium preset at 4K offers an average of 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for consistent gameplay. High averages 66 FPS, which is playable but with less margin for drops.

Q: Does the game favor CPU or GPU performance at 1080p?

A: The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are extremely high across all settings, with Low hitting 309 FPS and Ultra hitting 143 FPS. The fact that even Ultra stays above 140 FPS suggests the CPU is providing enough throughput to keep the GPU fed, but the scaling from Low to Ultra indicates the GPU is still the primary factor in frame rate changes.

Q: What is the CPU’s boost clock and how does it affect gaming?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500X3D has a boost clock of 4.50 GHz and a base clock of 4.00 GHz. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it is a solid gaming processor. Its 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a notable feature for gaming workloads, though the benchmark data does not isolate cache impact. The CPU’s single-thread score of 3494 in Passmark indicates strong per-core performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimal settings at each resolution. The primary goal is to maintain a frame rate that matches the display’s refresh rate while avoiding significant dips below that threshold.

For 1080p gaming, the Ultra preset is the best choice. The average of 143 FPS is well above the 120 FPS needed for high refresh rate monitors. Even if a display is 144Hz, this setting provides enough headroom to avoid stutter. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 257 FPS average, which is excessive for most displays and could be used to reduce GPU power draw, but Ultra is the best balance of visual fidelity and speed.

For 1440p, the High preset is recommended. It delivers 124 FPS average, which is suitable for 120Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 91 FPS, which is still playable but might not fully utilize a 144Hz panel. Medium at 1440p provides 164 FPS, which is excellent for 165Hz monitors, but High offers better visuals with only a 24% reduction in frame rate compared to Medium.

For 4K, the Medium preset is the only sensible choice for smooth gameplay. It averages 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, ensuring no drops below 60 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 66 FPS, which is technically playable but risks dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 49 FPS, which is too low for a responsive experience. Low at 4K provides 117 FPS but sacrifices too much visual quality to be recommended.

The optimal configuration based on the data is to use High settings at 1080p and 1440p, and Medium at 4K. This approach maximizes visual quality while keeping frame rates in a comfortable range. For users with 240Hz displays at 1080p, the Low preset at 309 FPS is an option, but the visual trade-off is severe.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 309 FPS. The Medium preset averages 257 FPS, with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS. The High preset averages 194 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 143 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 166 FPS, showing a 54% reduction in performance as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 219 FPS. The Medium preset averages 164 FPS, with a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS. The High preset averages 124 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 91 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 128 FPS, a 58% reduction from Low to Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 117 FPS. The Medium preset averages 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 101 FPS. The High preset averages 66 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 49 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 68 FPS, a 58% reduction from Low to Ultra.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min is 218 FPS and max is 295 FPS, a 77 FPS spread. At 1440p, the min is 140 FPS and max is 189 FPS, a 49 FPS spread. At 4K, the min is 74 FPS and max is 101 FPS, a 27 FPS spread. This tightening of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as resolution increases.

The data shows that the frame rate drops are not linear with resolution. From 1080p to 1440p at Medium, the drop is 36% (257 to 164 FPS). From 1440p to 4K at Medium, the drop is 47% (164 to 87 FPS). This steeper drop at higher resolutions confirms the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture. It has a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The CPU features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a significant amount for gaming workloads. It uses the AMD Socket AM5 and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In the Passmark benchmarks, the CPU scores 25047 in multithread and 3494 in single-thread. The single-thread score is particularly relevant for gaming, as many games rely heavily on single-core performance. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 89 against all CPUs indicates it is better than the vast majority of processors on the market.

The data in Hitman 2 suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 309 FPS, which is exceptionally high. Even at 1080p Ultra, it maintains 143 FPS. The fact that the frame rate drops significantly from 1080p to 4K (e.g., from 194 to 66 FPS at High) indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

However, the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient for this game. Hitman 2 is not known for heavily utilizing many cores, and the 7500X3D’s strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3494 Passmark score, allows it to feed the RTX 5090 effectively. The 96 MB L3 cache likely helps with game data locality, though the benchmark data does not directly measure this.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are all within 1% of its score. This tight grouping suggests that in this price and performance tier, the 7500X3D is not a standout in raw compute, but its gaming performance, as shown by the Hitman 2 results, is excellent. The CPU’s 65 W TDP is modest for a desktop processor, which means it should be easy to cool, though the data does not include thermal measurements.

At 4K Ultra, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck because the GPU is delivering only 49 FPS, which is below what the CPU could theoretically support based on the 143 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The CPU’s role in this combo is to provide enough headroom so that the GPU is fully utilized at lower resolutions, which it does admirably. For users playing at 1080p or 1440p, the CPU will not hold back the RTX 5090.