Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a mid-range combination for Hitman 2, a stealth game from 2018-11-12. Benchmark data indicates this pairing achieves a combo rank of 2810 out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The measured performance shows a system capable of smooth 1080p play but one that struggles significantly at higher resolutions, with the data clearly illustrating where this combo's strengths and limitations lie.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the optimal resolution. At this resolution, even the High preset achieves an average of 79 FPS, while Low hits 140 FPS, Medium reaches 105 FPS, and Ultra manages 58 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops High to 51 FPS, and 3840x2160 sees High fall to just 27 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform across different resolutions?

A: Ultra is only playable at 1920x1080, where it averages 58 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 37 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages just 20 FPS, making it effectively unplayable for most users.

Q: Is the Medium preset a better choice than High for this game?

A: The data suggests High is generally better than Medium. At 1920x1080, High averages 79 FPS versus Medium's 105 FPS, but Medium also has a minimum of 89 FPS. However, High at 2560x1440 averages 51 FPS compared to Medium's 67 FPS, making Medium a viable alternative at that resolution if you prefer the middle ground.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Low settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Low settings, the combo averages 89 FPS. This is the only 1440p setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, making Low the recommended choice for high-refresh-rate monitors at this resolution.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 9600X scores 2183.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 17528.5 in multi-core. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 1253, while max-thread score is 7590. This indicates strong single-thread capability, which is relevant for Hitman 2's game logic.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for Hitman 2 at all tested settings, as the performance drops at higher resolutions are more attributable to compute limits than memory constraints.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, operates at a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), providing 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth across a 192-bit bus. The GPU's 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 13.67 TFLOPS.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 1920x1080, the Arc B580 keeps average frame rates above 58 FPS even on Ultra, indicating sufficient headroom for the game's load. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a clear progression: 140 FPS to 105 FPS to 79 FPS to 58 FPS, representing a predictable drop as graphical fidelity increases. However, at 2560x1440, the GPU begins to bottleneck more severely: Low averages 89 FPS, Medium 67 FPS, High 51 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. This pattern suggests the Arc B580's compute resources are the limiting factor rather than memory bandwidth, as the 12 GB pool is ample for this title.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles significantly. Low averages 48 FPS, Medium 36 FPS (with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 41), High 27 FPS, and Ultra 20 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings represents a 66% reduction in average FPS (from 79 to 27), highlighting that this GPU is not designed for 4K gaming in demanding scenarios. The GPU's percentile ranking of 68 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021, places it near the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6), indicating it competes with older high-end cards but lacks the raw power for 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2810 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 76th percentile of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning more than the CPU's capability, as the Ryzen 5 9600X holds an 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 29713. The GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs drags the overall combo down relative to what the CPU alone might suggest.

The data shows this combo sits in a crowded field. The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (deltaPct 0.2), AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (deltaPct -0.5), AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT (deltaPct -0.6), and AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (deltaPct -0.8). These small deltas indicate the 9600X is competitive with a range of Ryzen 7 parts, both desktop and mobile variants. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (deltaPct -0.2), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (deltaPct 0.6), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (deltaPct -0.7), and NVIDIA P106-100 (deltaPct -1). The Arc B580's average score of 23021 places it within 1% of all these cards, showing it trades blows with both older and newer NVIDIA parts.

Given the combo's rank in the lower 24% of tested systems, the practical implication is that this pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1920x1080, every preset except Ultra exceeds 58 FPS, while at 2560x1440, only Low and Medium surpass 60 FPS. The rank of 2810 out of 3711 reflects that most other tested combos likely feature more powerful GPUs, even if their CPUs are weaker, because Hitman 2's performance at higher resolutions is GPU-bound.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable frame rates across the board: Low averages 140 FPS, Medium averages 105 FPS (with a range of 89 to 121 FPS), High averages 79 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. This resolution is clearly the sweet spot, as even Ultra maintains a playable average.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low averages 89 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium averages 67 FPS (range 57 to 77 FPS), which is still playable. High averages 51 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users but falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra averages 37 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in fast-paced stealth sequences. The data shows a consistent pattern: each preset step at 1440p costs roughly 15-20 FPS on average.

At 3840x2160, the combo is not viable for smooth gameplay. Low averages 48 FPS, which is borderline. Medium averages 36 FPS (range 30 to 41 FPS), and High drops to 27 FPS. Ultra averages just 20 FPS, making it unusable. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 28 FPS, showing that the GPU's compute resources are severely strained at this resolution regardless of settings.

The scaling efficiency is worth noting. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at High drops by 35% (from 79 to 51). From 1440p to 4K, it drops by 47% (from 51 to 27). This non-linear scaling suggests the GPU hits a compute wall between 1440p and 4K, where the additional pixel count overwhelms the 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience is achieved at 1920x1080 with the High preset, which averages 79 FPS. This provides a solid balance between visual fidelity and performance, with enough headroom above 60 FPS to handle demanding scenes without dipping into stutter territory. For users prioritizing frame rate, Low at 1080p (140 FPS) offers more than double the average FPS of High, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset (67 FPS average) is the recommended choice. It maintains playability while offering better visuals than Low (89 FPS), and the minimum of 57 FPS ensures most scenes remain smooth. High at 1440p (51 FPS) is acceptable for slower-paced gameplay but may cause issues during crowded stealth encounters. Ultra at 1440p (37 FPS) should be avoided unless visual quality takes absolute priority over responsiveness.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests this combo is not suited for this resolution. Low (48 FPS) is the only setting that approaches playability, but even it may dip below 30 FPS in demanding scenes. Medium (36 FPS average) and High (27 FPS) are not recommended for active gameplay. Users with 4K displays should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

The Medium preset at 1080p (105 FPS average) offers a good middle ground, with a minimum of 89 FPS ensuring consistent performance. However, High at 1080p provides a 26% reduction in average FPS (from 105 to 79) but likely delivers noticeably better shadows and textures that enhance the stealth gameplay's visual clarity. Given Hitman 2's emphasis on observing environments, the High preset at 1080p is the recommended default.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 9000 series, based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm TSMC process. It runs at a base clock of 3.90 GHz and boosts to 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, plus ECC support.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with game state data. The 9600X's strong single-thread performance — Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2183.5 and 3DMark single-thread score of 1253 — ensures that the game's simulation and AI logic run smoothly. The multi-thread scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core 17528.5, 3DMark max-thread 7590) provide sufficient headroom for background tasks and the game's broader system demands.

The CPU's 81st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713, shows it is a capable processor that is not the bottleneck in this combo. Its nearest rivals — the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE (0.2% faster), Ryzen 7 7840H (0.5% slower), Ryzen 7 5800XT (0.6% slower), and Ryzen 7 8845HS (0.8% slower) — all fall within 1% of its average score, indicating that the 9600X offers performance parity with a range of Ryzen 7 chips. This means the CPU is unlikely to limit frame rates in Hitman 2, even at lower resolutions where GPU load is lighter.

The Passmark single-thread score of 4570 and multi-thread score of 30027 further confirm the CPU's balance. The data compression score of 341021 and integer math score of 89918 indicate strong general-purpose performance, which is relevant for Hitman 2's loading and asset streaming. The CPU's 12 threads are more than sufficient for this 2018 title, which was designed for earlier 6-core processors. In practice, the 9600X will easily keep up with the Arc B580 across all tested settings, with the GPU consistently being the performance limiter at resolutions above 1080p.