Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Hitman 2 produces a profoundly GPU-bound experience at higher resolutions, yet reveals a clear CPU limitation at 1080p. The data shows this pairing ranks 162nd out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the top 5.4% of all configurations, but the frame rate scaling across resolutions tells a story of diminishing returns as pixel count drops. This analysis breaks down exactly where this combo excels, where it bottlenecks, and what the measured numbers mean for players targeting specific frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 4K to 1080p at High settings is the clearest indicator of this system's balance. At 3840x2160 High, the combo delivers 71 FPS average. Dropping to 2560x1440 High increases that to 132 FPS — a substantial 85.9% improvement. But moving from 1440p to 1920x1080 High only yields 190 FPS, a 43.9% gain over 1440p. This steepening curve of diminishing returns is the classic signature of a CPU-limited scenario emerging at lower resolutions.

At Low settings, the pattern becomes even more pronounced. The 4K Low result is 124 FPS, while 1440p Low jumps to 202 FPS (62.9% higher). Yet 1080p Low reaches only 234 FPS — just a 15.8% increase over 1440p. The gap between 1440p and 1080p at Low settings is remarkably narrow compared to the gap between 4K and 1440p, suggesting the Ryzen 7 3700X's 8 cores and 16 threads are nearing their ceiling around the 200-235 FPS range in this game.

The Medium settings data reinforces this interpretation. At 4K Medium, the combo averages 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 107. At 1440p Medium, it hits 175 FPS (149 min, 201 max). At 1080p Medium, 211 FPS (179 min, 243 max). The 1080p-to-1440p gap at Medium is 36 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K gap is 82 FPS — more than double. This confirms that the RTX 5090 D's massive compute resources are being increasingly starved of work as resolution drops.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages just 52 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it reaches 98 FPS (88.5% higher). At 1080p Ultra, it produces 153 FPS (56.1% higher than 1440p). The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset, indicating that even this flagship GPU cannot brute-force maximum settings at 4K in Hitman 2 while paired with this CPU.

The overall trend is unambiguous: the RTX 5090 D is the dominant performance driver at 4K, but the Ryzen 7 3700X becomes the limiting factor at 1080p, particularly at Low and Medium settings where the GPU has less work to do. The measured data suggests that players targeting 1440p will see the most balanced utilization of both components.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the clear performance anchor in this pairing, and its specifications explain why. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has no capacity or bandwidth constraints in Hitman 2 — a game released in 2018 that requires far less than even a fraction of this memory pool. The GPU's 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs provide the raw throughput needed to push High settings above 70 FPS at 4K.

Clock behavior matters here. The GPU has a base clock of 2017 MHz and a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The relatively modest gap between these clocks (390 MHz) suggests the card is running near its sustained boost in most scenarios, which aligns with the consistently high frame rates observed. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the headline number — this is what allows the card to maintain 124 FPS at 4K Low, a figure that would be impressive even at 1440p for many older GPUs.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows it sits at the 92nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals in the database — the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76904, +1.1% delta), AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78940, -1.6% delta), and two NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants — are all within roughly 2-3% of its average score. This tight clustering means that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 5090 D is not dramatically ahead of its nearest competitors, yet in Hitman 2 specifically, it demonstrates the kind of headroom that only a 32 GB GDDR7 card with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth can offer.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is fully leveraged by Hitman 2's engine, which scales well with modern hardware. The card's 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this title, as Hitman 2 does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS in the tested scenarios — the raw rasterization performance is what drives these numbers. The 5 nm process node and 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die represent the architectural peak of NVIDIA's Blackwell 2.0 design, and the measured FPS reflects that compute density.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 162nd out of 3001 tested configurations, placing it in the 94.6th percentile of all CPU-GPU pairings in this database for Hitman 2. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier — the top 161 combos likely feature more recent high-end CPUs that avoid the 1080p bottleneck this pairing exhibits.

To contextualize the rank, consider the CPU's synthetic standing. The Ryzen 7 3700X has an average benchmark score of 34260 and sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (34222, +0.1% delta), AMD EPYC 4244P (34220, +0.1% delta), Intel Core i5-13450HX (34333, -0.2% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (34083, +0.5% delta). All four are within 0.5% of the 3700X's average score, meaning the CPU is competitive with much newer silicon in general-purpose benchmarks, but its Zen 2 architecture lacks the per-core IPC advances of later generations.

The GPU's rank of 92nd percentile among all GPUs is higher than the CPU's 84th percentile, indicating that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing. This asymmetry is the root cause of the CPU bottleneck observed at 1080p. The combo's overall rank of 162nd in Hitman 2 reflects this imbalance — it outperforms most pairings because the RTX 5090 D carries the load, but it fails to crack the top 100 because the CPU holds it back in lower-resolution scenarios.

Notably, the combo ranks higher than many pairings featuring weaker GPUs with stronger CPUs, confirming that Hitman 2 is more sensitive to GPU throughput than CPU throughput at resolutions above 1080p. The data suggests that swapping the 3700X for a newer, higher-IPC CPU would likely move this combo into the top 100, but the current pairing still delivers excellent playable performance across most settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combo delivers a wide spread of results depending on settings. At Ultra, the average FPS is 52 — the only sub-60 result in the entire dataset, indicating that maximum settings at 4K are not viable for smooth gameplay. At High, the average rises to 71 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. At Medium, the average is 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 107, providing a comfortable window above 60 FPS. At Low, the average jumps to 124 FPS, making 4K Low the first setting tier where the combo exceeds 120 FPS.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance becomes more robust. Ultra settings produce 98 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays. High settings reach 132 FPS, Medium hits 175 FPS (149 min, 201 max), and Low achieves 202 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is particularly notable because the minimum of 149 FPS ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay above 144 FPS, making this an excellent pairing for 144Hz monitors at this resolution.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the combo reaches its highest numbers but also reveals its CPU constraint. Ultra settings produce 153 FPS, High reaches 190 FPS, Medium hits 211 FPS (179 min, 243 max), and Low tops out at 234 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 23 FPS, while at 4K the same gap is 31 FPS — this compression at 1080p is the CPU bottleneck manifesting. The 234 FPS Low result is the highest figure in the entire dataset, but it falls short of what the RTX 5090 D alone could achieve if paired with a faster CPU.

The Medium settings data across all resolutions provides the most complete picture of frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 179 min and 243 max indicate a 64 FPS spread, which is substantial. At 1440p, the spread is 52 FPS (149 to 201). At 4K, the spread narrows to 28 FPS (79 to 107). This tightening of frame time variance at higher resolutions is counterintuitive but consistent with GPU-bound scenarios where the GPU's consistent frame pacing dominates over CPU-driven stutters.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a Zen 2 (Matisse) architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, base clock of 3.60 GHz, and boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache is substantial for this era, and its 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on dual-channel DDR4 is adequate for gaming workloads. The 65W TDP is modest, and the 7 nm TSMC process node with 3,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die represents a dense, efficient design.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's 8 cores are more than sufficient for the game's threading model, which typically utilizes 4-8 threads. The 16 threads provide headroom for background tasks, but the game's core logic likely runs on fewer threads, making single-core performance more critical. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores — 204 in Cinebench R15 and 1593 in Geekbench — are respectable but not class-leading, and this is where the 1080p bottleneck originates.

The nearest rivals in the CPU database are informative. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 and AMD EPYC 4244P both score within 0.1% of the 3700X's average, while the Intel Core i5-13450HX is 0.2% ahead and the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is 0.5% behind. This clustering suggests that the 3700X's overall compute capability remains relevant, but its architecture lacks the per-core efficiency of newer designs. In Hitman 2, where per-core IPC directly impacts achievable frame rates at CPU-bound resolutions, this matters.

The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 22458 and single-thread score of 2656 are solid, but the game's measured performance tells the real story. At 1080p Low, the 234 FPS ceiling appears to be a hard limit imposed by the CPU's instruction throughput. The fact that 1440p Low (202 FPS) is only 32 FPS lower than 1080p Low (234 FPS) — while 4K Low (124 FPS) is 78 FPS lower than 1440p Low — demonstrates that the CPU is the limiting factor below 1440p, while the GPU dominates above it.

The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms 84% of processors in the database, but in this specific game, its relative weakness compared to the GPU creates an imbalance. A player using this combo at 1080p with a 240Hz monitor would leave performance on the table, as the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough frames to max out high-refresh-rate displays. At 1440p, however, the balance is far more equitable.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo in Hitman 2?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 at Medium settings produces 175 FPS average with a 149 FPS minimum, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 4K, High settings deliver 71 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages just 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. To maintain 60+ FPS at 4K, players must use High settings (71 FPS) or lower.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. Evidence shows that the FPS gain from 1440p Low (202 FPS) to 1080p Low (234 FPS) is only 32 FPS, while the gain from 4K Low (124 FPS) to 1440p Low is 78 FPS. This diminishing return as resolution drops indicates the Ryzen 7 3700X's single-thread performance caps frame rates around 234 FPS.

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

A: This combo ranks 162nd out of 3001 total configurations, placing it in the top 5.4% of all tested pairs. The GPU ranks at the 92nd percentile while the CPU ranks at the 84th percentile, showing the GPU is the stronger component.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 179 FPS and maximum is 243 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 149 FPS and maximum is 201 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 79 FPS and maximum is 107 FPS. The frame time spread narrows as resolution increases.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM useful for this game?

A: Hitman 2 does not require anywhere near 32 GB of VRAM, but the GPU's 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and asset loading never bottleneck performance. The capacity is excessive for this title but provides future-proofing for more demanding games.