Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Hitman 2, but the data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior across resolutions. At 1080p, the combo is overwhelmingly CPU-bound, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and optimal settings based solely on the provided benchmark data.

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

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic scaling curve that pinpoints where each component saturates. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 122.9 average FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at Ultra drops this to 80.4 FPS, a reduction of 42.5 FPS. The leap to 3840x2160 at Ultra further reduces performance to 45.9 FPS, representing a 35.6% decline from the 1440p result. This steep drop-off as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario at higher pixel counts.

However, the 1080p data tells a different story. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 304 FPS. When settings are raised to Medium, the average falls to 226.7 FPS, and High yields 168.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 77.3 FPS, which is substantial. This suggests that even at the lowest settings, the CPU is already delivering a high ceiling, and the GPU is not being pushed to its absolute limit at this resolution. The 1080p Ultra result of 122.9 FPS is only 45.9% of the Low setting’s 304 FPS, indicating that graphical effects, not resolution, are the primary lever at this pixel count.

The 1440p data reveals a more balanced picture. At 2560x1440, Low produces 194.3 FPS, Medium 146.2 FPS, and High 108.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to High is a 44.3% reduction. Compare this to 4K, where Low yields 105.4 FPS and High yields 61.2 FPS, a 41.9% reduction. The similarity in these percentage drops suggests that at 1440p and 4K, the GPU is now the limiting component, as increasing settings has a consistent proportional impact on frame rate.

The conclusion from the resolution scaling is that the Ryzen 5 9600X has ample headroom for high-refresh 1080p gaming, but the RTX 4080 SUPER becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. The 4K Ultra result of 45.9 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS result in the entire dataset, confirming that this combo is not ideal for maxed-out 4K gaming in this title.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. The memory clock is listed at 1438 MHz, with 23 Gbps effective speed. The GPU’s boost clock is 2550 MHz, and it contains 10240 shading units. These specifications directly influence the measured FPS, particularly at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth and fill rate become critical.

The 16 GB VRAM allocation is substantial for a 2018 title like Hitman 2. The measured data shows that the GPU is not hitting a memory capacity wall, as even the 4K Ultra settings produce a playable 45.9 FPS. The performance degradation from High to Ultra at 4K is significant: 61.2 FPS to 45.9 FPS, a 25% drop. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces rendering effects that heavily tax the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems, likely related to shadow quality and draw distance.

The RTX 4080 SUPER’s FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s are relevant when examining the 1440p results. At 2560x1440, the GPU maintains 108.2 FPS on High settings. The data shows that the GPU is capable of exceeding 144 FPS at this resolution only on Low settings, achieving 194.3 FPS. The RTX 4080 SUPER’s 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present, but Hitman 2 is not a ray-tracing-heavy title, so these units have limited impact on the measured results.

The GPU’s benchmark percentile is 88, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of tested graphics cards. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, has an average score that is 0.2% higher, which is a negligible difference. The performance data shows that the RTX 4080 SUPER is a high-end card that excels at 1440p, but the 4K Ultra setting proves to be too demanding for a consistent 60 FPS experience in this game.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. These specifications are critical for understanding the 1080p performance ceiling.

The 1080p Low setting result of 304 FPS is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. This indicates that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with an enormous number of frames when graphical load is minimal. The CPU’s single-threaded performance is highlighted by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1253 and passmark_single_thread score of 4570. Hitman 2 is known to be sensitive to single-threaded performance, and the Ryzen 5 9600X’s high boost clock of 5.40 GHz directly contributes to this result.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are less of a factor in this game. The 6-core/12-thread configuration produces a 3dmark_max_threads score of 7590, which is only 0.07% higher than the 16-thread score of 7585. This suggests that the processor is not being fully utilized by Hitman 2’s engine, which likely relies more on fewer, faster cores. The CPU’s percentile rank of 85 and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13490F, which is only 0.3% faster in average benchmark score, confirm that this is a competitive mid-range processor.

The data reveals a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The 304 FPS at Low settings is likely near the engine’s physical limit or the CPU’s maximum frame output. When settings are increased to Medium, the FPS drops to 226.7, but this is still a very high number. The fact that the CPU can sustain over 200 FPS even at Medium settings shows that it is not the limiting factor until the GPU becomes saturated at higher resolutions. The Ryzen 5 9600X is clearly a capable gaming CPU, but its performance in this title is constrained by the game’s engine rather than the processor’s raw compute power.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 304, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 45.9, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much faster is the 1080p Low setting compared to the 1440p Low setting?

A: The 1080p Low setting produces 304 FPS, while the 2560x1440 Low setting produces 194.3 FPS, making the 1080p result 109.7 FPS higher.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth and how does it relate to 4K performance?

A: The GPU has a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. At 4K High settings, the combo achieves 61.2 FPS, indicating that the bandwidth is sufficient for High settings but not for Ultra, which drops to 45.9 FPS.

Q: What is the CPU’s boost clock and how might it affect in-game performance?

A: The CPU’s boost clock is 5.40 GHz. This high clock speed is likely a major factor in the 304 FPS result at 1080p Low, as Hitman 2 benefits from strong single-threaded performance.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: This combo ranks 112th out of 1795 tested combinations, placing it in the top 6.2% of all tested systems.

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

The data clearly indicates that the Ultra preset is not the optimal choice for this combo, especially at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, Ultra yields 45.9 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. The High preset at 4K produces 61.2 FPS, which is a playable 60 FPS experience. The Medium preset at 4K produces 80 FPS, offering a significant performance boost with only a modest visual compromise compared to High.

For 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 108.2 FPS, which is an excellent result for high-refresh monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 80.4 FPS, which is still very playable but represents a 25.7% performance hit compared to High. The Medium preset at 146.2 FPS is the best choice for users with 144Hz monitors, as it provides smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much visual fidelity.

At 1920x1080, the High preset produces 168.8 FPS, which is sufficient for 144Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 122.9 FPS is still above 120 FPS, making it a viable option for 120Hz monitors. The Medium preset at 226.7 FPS is the highest setting that exceeds 200 FPS, making it ideal for 240Hz displays. The Low preset at 304 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized over visuals.

The best overall experience is the High preset at 2560x1440, which balances visual quality with a 108.2 FPS average. For 4K users, the Medium preset at 80 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a 30.7% improvement over High settings while maintaining a smooth frame rate.

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

The following is the complete measured FPS data for this combo in Hitman 2:

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 105.4 FPS
• Medium: 80 FPS
• High: 61.2 FPS
• Ultra: 45.9 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 194.3 FPS
• Medium: 146.2 FPS
• High: 108.2 FPS
• Ultra: 80.4 FPS

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 304 FPS
• Medium: 226.7 FPS
• High: 168.8 FPS
• Ultra: 122.9 FPS

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings. For Low settings, the drop from 304 FPS to 105.4 FPS represents a 65.3% reduction. For Ultra settings, the drop from 122.9 FPS to 45.9 FPS represents a 62.7% reduction. This consistency indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across resolutions, regardless of the preset.

The 1440p results show that the Medium preset at 146.2 FPS is the only setting that exceeds 144 FPS, making it the only option for 144Hz displays at this resolution. The 1080p results show that all settings except Ultra exceed 144 FPS, with Low and Medium both exceeding 200 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 112th out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the top 6.2% of all systems tested, which is an excellent result. The ranking indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, despite the CPU being a mid-range 6-core processor and the GPU being a high-end card.

The CPU’s individual rank is 85th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it is faster than 85% of tested processors. The GPU’s individual rank is 88th percentile among all GPUs, meaning it is faster than 88% of tested graphics cards. The combo’s rank of 112 out of 1795 (93.8th percentile) is higher than either component’s individual percentile, suggesting that the pairing is particularly synergistic for this game.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230, both of which have average benchmark scores within 0.3% of the Ryzen 5 9600X. The GPU’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, which has an average score 0.2% higher. Despite these close individual benchmarks, the combo’s overall rank of 112 demonstrates that the specific pairing produces a highly competitive result in Hitman 2.

The data shows that this combo is well-suited for high-refresh 1440p gaming and can handle 4K at Medium settings. The 112th rank out of 1795 combos confirms that this system is a top-tier performer in this game, with only 111 other tested combinations achieving higher frame rates.