Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 5 9600X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers a top-tier Hitman 2 experience, ranking 7th out of 1,795 tested combinations. This places the combo in the top 0.4% of all tested systems, an exceptional result for a stealth title that rewards both CPU throughput and GPU rasterization power. The measured frame rates show a system with enormous headroom at lower resolutions, but one that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution climbs to 4K. The data indicates that at 1440p and below, the Ryzen 5 9600X’s six Zen 5 cores are more than sufficient to feed the RTX 5090, while at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s workload dominates and frame rates drop to levels that remain playable but far from the triple-digit figures seen at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior. At Low settings, the system produces 344.3 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 225 FPS at 2560x1440 and 118.3 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 65.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, a steep decline that indicates the GPU is the limiting component once pixel count rises. The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings: 1080p to 1440p typically costs about 35-40% of performance, while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs roughly another 45-50%.

At Ultra settings, the drop is even more pronounced. The system delivers 146 FPS at 1080p, 94.2 FPS at 1440p, and 47.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is just 32.4% of the 1080p Ultra figure, confirming that the RTX 5090’s massive 32 GB frame buffer and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are still stressed by Hitman 2’s highest preset at 4K. The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 5 9600X’s 5.40 GHz boost clock and 32 MB shared L3 cache keep the CPU from becoming a constraint, as frame rates scale nearly linearly with resolution. However, at 4K, the GPU’s compute throughput—104.8 TFLOPS FP32—becomes the primary factor, and the CPU’s role diminishes.

The scaling behavior points to a system that is extremely well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where even Ultra settings produce 94.2 FPS, but at 4K, users must accept either lower settings or a frame rate in the 47-118 FPS range depending on preset. The gap between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is substantial: at 4K, Low delivers 118.3 FPS while Ultra delivers 47.3 FPS, a 2.5x difference that underscores how much headroom exists in the GPU for those willing to compromise visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience per the data is the High preset at 2560x1440, which delivers 127.7 FPS. This combination offers a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience while maintaining detail levels above Medium. At 1920x1080, High also performs admirably at 197.8 FPS, making it an excellent choice for competitive play or high-refresh monitors. The Low preset at 1080p yields an extraordinary 344.3 FPS, but this is likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays and sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily.

For 4K users, the data indicates that High is the sweet spot, producing 65.5 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, whereas Medium at 4K delivers 91.4 FPS—a more comfortable margin for those with 120 Hz displays. Ultra at 4K drops to 47.3 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced stealth sequences where smooth camera movement matters. The Medium preset at 4K appears to offer the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom, especially considering the 91.4 FPS result is 40% higher than High’s 65.5 FPS.

At 1440p, the High preset’s 127.7 FPS is the recommended choice for most users, as it outperforms Medium’s 165.9 FPS by a smaller margin than the visual uplift justifies. The Ultra preset at 1440p still produces a very playable 94.2 FPS, so enthusiasts with high-refresh 1440p panels can opt for maximum quality without falling below 90 FPS. Overall, the data suggests that High is the default recommendation across all resolutions, with Medium serving as the fallback for 4K users seeking higher frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 344.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system run Hitman 2 at 4K Ultra smoothly?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 47.3, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For 60+ FPS at 4K, the High preset at 65.5 FPS or Medium at 91.4 FPS is recommended.

Q: How does the RTX 5090’s memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which supports high-resolution textures without capacity issues, but the 4K Ultra result of 47.3 FPS shows that raw compute becomes the limiting factor at maximum settings.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 9600X a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. The 1080p Low result of 344.3 FPS and 1080p High result of 197.8 FPS indicate the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads with a 5.40 GHz boost clock are sufficient to keep the GPU fully utilized at this resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low produces 225 FPS while Ultra produces 94.2 FPS, a difference of 130.8 FPS or roughly 2.4x. This shows a wide range of options depending on whether visual quality or frame rate is prioritized.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 7th out of 1,795 total tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 0.4% of all systems tested for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 344.3 FPS, Medium settings produce 261.5 FPS, High settings produce 197.8 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 146 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 57.6% performance reduction, showing that the RTX 5090 has ample headroom even at the highest preset. The gap between Medium and High is 63.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 51.8 FPS, indicating a relatively even distribution of rendering costs across presets.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but drops predictably. Low settings produce 225 FPS, Medium settings produce 165.9 FPS, High settings produce 127.7 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 94.2 FPS. The 1440p results show that even the most demanding preset stays above 90 FPS, making this resolution the best overall experience for combining high refresh rates with high visual quality. The drop from 1080p to 1440p averages 34.6% across all settings, with Ultra being the least affected at 35.5% reduction.

At 3840x2160, the GPU workload becomes significant. Low settings produce 118.3 FPS, Medium settings produce 91.4 FPS, High settings produce 65.5 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 47.3 FPS. The 4K results reveal that only Low and Medium presets maintain frame rates above 90 FPS, while High barely clears 60 FPS and Ultra falls below it. The drop from 1440p to 4K averages 48.1% across all settings, with the largest absolute drop occurring at Low settings (106.7 FPS lost) and the smallest at Ultra (46.9 FPS lost).

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 7th out of 1,795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 99.6th percentile of all tested systems. This is an outstanding result that reflects both the Ryzen 5 9600X’s strong single-thread performance and the RTX 5090’s raw rasterization power. The CPU’s percentile vs all CPUs is 85, while the GPU’s percentile vs all GPUs is 94, suggesting that the GPU is the stronger component relative to its peers. However, the combo’s top-7 ranking indicates that the pairing works exceptionally well together in this game.

The Ryzen 5 9600X’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Core i5-13490F and AMD Ryzen 5 230, both with average scores within 0.3% of the 9600X. The Intel Core i5-14500T is 0.5% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS is 0.4% higher. These small deltas show that the 9600X is tightly clustered with its direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks, yet the combo ranking in Hitman 2 demonstrates that its Zen 5 architecture delivers real-world gaming performance that exceeds what raw scores might suggest. The RTX 5090’s nearest rivals show similar tight clustering, with the RTX 5090 D just 0.1% behind and the RTX 5050 Mobile 0.2% behind, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3% and the NVIDIA CMP 40HX leads by 1.6%.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, manufactured on TSMC’s 4 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, which pairs well with the RTX 5090’s PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully taxed. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 344.3 FPS, a result that depends heavily on the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The 5.40 GHz boost clock and strong single-thread performance (3,603 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensure that Hitman 2’s stealth AI and physics calculations do not become a bottleneck. The 3dmark single-thread score of 1,253 and 2-thread score of 2,456 further confirm that the CPU excels in lightly-threaded workloads, which is typical for this game’s engine.

The 9600X’s 65 W TDP and 6-core configuration are unusual for a top-tier gaming combo, yet the measured results show no signs of CPU limitation even at 1440p High with 127.7 FPS. This suggests that Hitman 2 is not heavily multi-threaded, as the CPU’s 12 threads are sufficient to maintain high frame rates without requiring additional cores. The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its tight clustering against rivals in synthetic benchmarks, indicates that it is a strong but not exceptional processor; however, in this game, its performance is more than adequate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring the GB202 chip on TSMC’s 5 nm process with 92,200 million transistors and a 750 mm² die size. It operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz, with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU includes 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, delivering 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

In Hitman 2, the GPU’s role becomes increasingly important as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the system produces just 47.3 FPS, a result that is almost entirely GPU-bound given the CPU’s demonstrated capability at lower resolutions. The GPU’s 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 84,306 reflect its position as one of the fastest consumer graphics cards available. The 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,411 and Passmark G3D score of 39,650 confirm that the GPU delivers exceptional rasterization performance.

The 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Hitman 2 at any resolution or setting, as the game’s texture requirements are easily satisfied. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and geometry processing at 4K do not become memory-bound, which is evidenced by the relatively smooth scaling from 1440p to 4K (average 48.1% drop) compared to what might be expected with a narrower memory bus. The GPU’s 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU indicate that this is a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS results justify the power draw for users seeking maximum frame rates. The RTX 5090’s performance in this game is so strong that at 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 344.3 FPS at Low settings being far below the GPU’s theoretical maximum output.