Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a fundamentally constrained experience in Hitman 2, ranking 2662nd out of 3001 tested combos. This places the pairing in the bottom 11% of all system configurations, a position driven almost entirely by the Arc B390’s status as an integrated graphics solution. While the CPU is a competent older desktop part, the GPU is a mobile-class IGP that was never designed for 4K gaming, and the benchmark data reflects that reality with sub-30 FPS averages at every 4K preset. The combination is usable at 1080p Low, but anything beyond that requires significant compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2662 out of 3001 tested configurations is a clear signal that this pairing is not competitive for Hitman 2 under any demanding settings. With 339 combos ranking below it, the system sits just above the absolute bottom of the database, and the data indicates that any discrete GPU from the past decade would likely outperform this setup. The rank is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability — the Ryzen 7 3700X sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs — but rather a direct consequence of the Arc B390’s 9th percentile position among all GPUs. The GPU is the bottleneck in every measurable scenario, and the CPU’s strength cannot compensate for the IGP’s fundamental throughput limits.

When compared to other combos, the 3700X’s raw processing power is wasted here. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 34,260 places it within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 and Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, and only 0.2% behind the Intel Core i5-13450HX. Yet those CPUs would typically be paired with far more capable graphics hardware. This combo’s rank demonstrates that a strong processor cannot rescue a weak GPU in a GPU-bound title like Hitman 2, where the rendering workload dominates the frame time budget. The practical takeaway from the ranking is simple: this is a system for low-resolution, low-settings play, and the data shows it is not suited for high-fidelity Hitman 2 sessions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and it features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. The GPU also includes 12 ray tracing cores, though their impact on Hitman 2’s traditional rasterization workload is minimal. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with the GPU drawing from the host’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory architecture has no fixed bandwidth figure — the specification lists it as "System Dependent" — which means performance can vary based on the system’s memory configuration.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities are modest: 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s. These figures place the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, a position confirmed by its nearest rivals. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710. These are all entry-level or legacy discrete GPUs from a decade ago, and the Arc B390’s performance envelope is comparable to theirs. In Hitman 2, this means the GPU struggles with even medium settings at 1080p, and it cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K under any preset. The data shows the GPU is the definitive limiting factor in this combo.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a Zen 2 architecture desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU has 32 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core, with a 65 W TDP. This processor was released in July 2019 with a launch MSRP of $329. Its benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance: a Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 2092 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 8899, alongside a Passmark multi-thread score of 22,458.

For Hitman 2, the CPU is more than sufficient. The game’s AI and simulation workloads are well-served by 8 cores and 16 threads, and the 4.40 GHz boost clock provides solid single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 1593 and a Passmark single-thread score of 2656. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking among all processors means it outperforms the vast majority of installed CPUs, and it is not the cause of the low frame rates in this combo. The nearest rival CPUs — the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, AMD EPYC 4244P, and Intel Core i5-13450HX — all have average benchmark scores within 0.5% of the 3700X, confirming that this CPU is a capable mid-range part. In Hitman 2, the CPU is effectively idle relative to the GPU’s limitations, and the frame rate data reflects the GPU’s bottleneck rather than any CPU deficiency.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a clear picture of the combo’s capabilities. At 1080p Low, the system achieves an average of 80 FPS, which is the only truly playable result in the entire dataset. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS, which is borderline acceptable for a stealth game. At 1080p High, the average falls to 46 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 34 FPS — both below the 60 FPS threshold that most players would consider smooth.

Moving to 1440p, the performance degrades significantly. At Low settings, the average is 51 FPS, which is still playable but noticeably less smooth than the 1080p result. At Medium, the average drops to 39 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS. At High, the average is 29 FPS, and at Ultra, it is 21 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly poor. At 4K Low, the average is 27 FPS; at Medium, it is 21 FPS with a minimum of 17 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS; at High, it is 16 FPS; and at Ultra, it is 11 FPS. These 4K numbers are all below the threshold for smooth gameplay, and even the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (17 FPS) is well below playable.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the Arc B390’s rendering throughput is the sole determinant of performance. The 1080p Low result of 80 FPS is the only data point that approaches a high-refresh experience, and it comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The 1080p Medium result of 60 FPS is the second-best outcome, but it comes with a minimum of 51 FPS, which indicates occasional stutters in busy scenes. No other preset at any resolution achieves a 60 FPS average, and the 4K Ultra result of 11 FPS is essentially a slideshow.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a GPU that is heavily bandwidth and throughput limited. From 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the average FPS drops from 80 to 51, a 36% reduction. From 1440p Low to 4K Low, the average drops from 51 to 27, a 47% reduction. This scaling is roughly linear with pixel count, which is expected for a GPU that is compute-bound rather than memory-bandwidth bound. The system-shared memory configuration means the GPU is competing with the CPU for memory bandwidth, and at higher resolutions, the increased pixel workload exacerbates this contention.

The scaling from 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium shows a drop from 60 FPS to 39 FPS, a 35% reduction, and from 1440p Medium to 4K Medium, the drop is from 39 FPS to 21 FPS, a 46% reduction. The High settings show similar scaling: 1080p High at 46 FPS drops to 29 FPS at 1440p High (37% reduction), then to 16 FPS at 4K High (45% reduction). The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute decline: 34 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 21 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and 11 FPS at 4K Ultra. The consistent roughly 35-47% reduction per resolution step indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at all settings, and the CPU’s performance headroom is never the constraint.

This scaling behavior confirms that the Arc B390 is the bottleneck. A CPU-limited system would show diminishing FPS drops as resolution increases, because the CPU workload would saturate and the GPU would become more utilized. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU that is fully saturated at every resolution. The data suggests that even at 1080p Low, the GPU is operating near its maximum throughput, and the only way to improve performance would be to reduce the resolution further or lower the settings below the Low preset.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance this combo can achieve in Hitman 2?

A: The highest average FPS is 80 at 1080p Low settings. The next best is 60 FPS at 1080p Medium, which has a minimum of 51 FPS.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: No. The best 4K result is 27 FPS at Low settings, and the worst is 11 FPS at Ultra. All 4K averages are below 30 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: Which component limits the performance in this pairing?

A: The Intel Arc B390 GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU is in the 84th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 9th percentile. The FPS scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is fully saturated at all settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710. These are all legacy entry-level GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a strong processor for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU is more than adequate. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, and its benchmark scores place it within 0.5% of newer CPUs like the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 and Intel Core Ultra 7 165H. The CPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: What settings should a user select for the smoothest experience?

A: The data shows 1080p Low at 80 FPS is the smoothest. For better visuals, 1080p Medium at 60 FPS is viable, but the minimum of 51 FPS may cause occasional hitches. Any higher preset or resolution results in averages below 60 FPS.