Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is a stealth title from 2018 that, on this particular hardware pairing, behaves less like a modern GPU stress test and more like a test of how far frame rates can be pushed before the CPU becomes the limiting factor. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination shows a system that delivers exceptional performance at 1080p and 1440p, but which begins to show a noticeable ceiling at 4K Ultra settings. The benchmark results indicate that this combo is ranked 45th out of 3001 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the top 1.5% of all configs. This is a high-end pairing, and the frame rates reflect that, but the scaling pattern across resolutions reveals a system where the CPU’s capabilities are the primary driver at lower resolutions, while the GPU’s raw power takes over as the resolution climbs.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the shape of that curve is more telling than the raw numbers. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 291 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, that average falls to 234 FPS, a decrease of 19.6%. At 4K Low, the average is 124 FPS, which is 47% lower than the 1440p result and 57.4% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern — a modest drop from 1080p to 1440p and then a much larger drop from 1440p to 4K — is a classic sign of a system that is CPU-limited at the lower resolutions and becomes GPU-limited as the pixel count rises.

The High settings curve tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 207 FPS. At 1440p High, it is 132 FPS, a 36.2% reduction. At 4K High, the average drops to 71 FPS, which is 46.2% lower than the 1440p figure and 65.7% lower than the 1080p figure. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is larger for High settings than for Low settings (36.2% vs 19.6%), which suggests that the GPU is starting to become more involved even at 1440p when the graphical load is higher.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 153 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 98 FPS, a 35.9% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average plummets to 52 FPS, which is 46.9% lower than the 1440p result and 66% lower than the 1080p result. The 4K Ultra number is the only sub-60 FPS average in the entire dataset, indicating that this is the only configuration where the RTX 5090 D is truly struggling to keep up. The RTX 5090 D has a boost clock of 2407 MHz and 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, so the hardware is not lacking in raw capability; rather, the 4K Ultra setting appears to be pushing the game’s rendering engine to its limits.

What does this say about the limiting component? The data shows that at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is only from 291 FPS to 153 FPS, a 47.4% reduction. At 4K, the same settings range produces 124 FPS to 52 FPS, a 58.1% reduction. The fact that the settings penalty is larger at 4K indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are likely the ceiling. The Ryzen 7 5700 has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and its single-thread performance in Cinebench R23 is 2916, which is solid but not exceptional for a high-refresh-rate gaming scenario. The data suggests that for a game like Hitman 2, which is known for its complex AI and physics simulations, the CPU’s ability to feed frames to the GPU becomes the limiting factor below 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this CPU and GPU combination for a balance of quality and frame rate?

A: The 1440p High setting appears to be the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 132 FPS, which is more than double the 4K High average of 71 FPS, while still offering a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The 1440p Medium setting also performs well at 175 FPS, but High provides a better visual experience for only a 24.6% reduction in frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB of VRAM affect Hitman 2 performance?

A: Hitman 2 is a game from 2018, and its texture requirements are not particularly demanding by modern standards. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on the RTX 5090 D is far more than the game needs, so the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any of the measured scenarios. The GPU’s 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 512-bit bus width are more relevant to performance, as they allow the card to process the game’s geometry and effects quickly, particularly at 4K resolution.

Q: Why is the 4K Ultra average FPS so low compared to other settings?

A: The 4K Ultra setting produces an average of 52 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset. This is likely due to the combination of the highest pixel count (3840x2160) and the most demanding graphics presets, which include higher levels of shadow detail, texture filtering, and post-processing effects. The RTX 5090 D’s raw compute power (104.8 TFLOPS FP32) is being fully utilized at this setting, and the game’s engine appears to have a performance ceiling that prevents higher frame rates.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5700 holding back the RTX 5090 D in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is a limiting factor at 1080p and, to a lesser extent, at 1440p. At 1080p Low, the average is 291 FPS, which is extremely high, but the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (291 to 153 FPS) shows that the CPU cannot maintain the same frame rates when the GPU is asked to do more work. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 901 and Passmark single-thread score of 3296 are moderate for a modern processor, suggesting that it is the bottleneck in this pairing.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested combinations in Hitman 2?

A: This combo is ranked 45th out of 3001 tested combinations, putting it in the top 1.5% of all configurations. This is a strong result, but it is not the absolute top performer. The rank indicates that there are 44 other combinations that produce higher average frame rates in this game, likely featuring more powerful CPUs (such as those with higher boost clocks) paired with the same or similar GPUs.

Q: What is the difference between the Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium setting produces an average of 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS. The High setting produces an average of 132 FPS. This represents a 24.6% reduction in average frame rate for the High setting. The Medium setting’s minimum FPS of 149 is higher than the High setting’s average, indicating that Medium provides a more consistent frame pacing experience, while High offers better visual fidelity at the cost of some fluidity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing for raw graphical output. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz are high for a modern GPU, and the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. These specifications translate into a GPU that is capable of handling Hitman 2’s environments with ease, even at 4K resolution. The benchmark data shows that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with resolution: as the number of pixels increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the frame rate drops consistently across all settings.

The GPU’s role becomes more pronounced at 4K. At 4K Low, the average is 124 FPS, which is a strong result, but at 4K Ultra, the average falls to 52 FPS. This 58.1% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K indicates that the GPU is being heavily taxed by the Ultra preset’s additional effects, such as higher-resolution shadows and more complex lighting calculations. The RTX 5090 D’s 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs are working hard to fill the screen at 4K, and the 32 GB of VRAM ensures that there is no texture swapping or stuttering, as evidenced by the 4K Medium result of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS.

However, the GPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average is 291 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. This suggests that the GPU is being underutilized at 1080p, and the CPU is the component that determines the final frame rate. The RTX 5090 D’s Passmark G3D score of 44065 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 are impressive, but these synthetic benchmarks do not translate into proportionally higher frame rates in Hitman 2 at 1080p because the CPU cannot feed the GPU fast enough. The GPU’s role in this game is to provide headroom for higher resolutions and settings, which is where it excels.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 45 out of 3001 tested combinations places this pairing in the 98.5th percentile for Hitman 2 performance. This is an exceptional result, but it is not the top of the leaderboard. The ranking suggests that there are a small number of combinations that achieve higher average frame rates, likely by pairing the RTX 5090 D with a CPU that has higher single-thread performance. The Ryzen 7 5700’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon D-2752TER (deltaPct -0.1), AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (deltaPct 0.1), AMD Ryzen 5 6600H (deltaPct -0.1), and AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (deltaPct 0.3). These CPUs have similar overall performance, but none of them are known for exceptional gaming single-thread speeds.

The rank of 45 is particularly notable because the RTX 5090 D is a flagship GPU. The fact that this combo does not rank higher confirms the CPU’s limitations in this specific game. Hitman 2’s engine appears to be sensitive to CPU clock speed and IPC, and the Ryzen 7 5700’s Zen 3 architecture, while efficient, is not the fastest available for gaming. The CPU’s 3DMark 8-thread score of 5585 and 16-thread score of 6628 show that it has solid multi-threaded performance, but its single-thread score of 901 is the more relevant metric for a game that often relies on a single main thread for game logic.

The 45th rank also indicates that the combo is well above average, as the median combo would be ranked around 1500. This pairing is clearly capable of delivering a high-refresh-rate experience at 1080p and 1440p, and a playable experience at 4K with adjusted settings. The data shows that the combo’s strengths are in its consistency: across all settings and resolutions, the frame rates are stable, with the 4K Medium result showing a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS, indicating a tight frame time distribution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne, and manufactured on a 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz are reasonable for a desktop CPU, but the data indicates that these clocks are not sufficient to fully saturate the RTX 5090 D at lower resolutions. The CPU’s role in Hitman 2 is to handle the game’s simulation and AI logic, which includes tracking NPCs, processing player actions, and managing the dynamic events that occur in each level.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the average is 291 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 153 FPS. This 47.4% reduction is not due to the GPU, as the RTX 5090 D is more than capable of rendering the Ultra preset at 1080p. Instead, it is the CPU that cannot keep up with the increased draw calls and physics calculations that the Ultra settings introduce. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20655 is strong, but its single-core score of 2916 is moderate. In a game like Hitman 2, where a single thread often handles the main game loop, this single-core performance is what determines the maximum frame rate.

At 1440p, the CPU’s role diminishes slightly, but it still exerts an influence. The 1440p Low average is 234 FPS, while the 1440p Ultra average is 98 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 58.1%, which is larger than the drop at 1080p (47.4%). This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU is starting to become a more significant factor, but the CPU is still contributing to the performance ceiling. The 1440p Medium result of 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS shows that the CPU can maintain high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck.

At 4K, the CPU’s role is largely secondary. The 4K Low average is 124 FPS, and the 4K Ultra average is 52 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K is 58.1%, which is identical to the scaling at 1440p. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the primary limiting factor, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck. The CPU’s 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core help to reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for game logic, but the overall performance is constrained by the clock speed and IPC of the Zen 3 architecture.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers high frame rates across all settings. The Low setting produces an average of 291 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. The Medium setting produces an average of 262 FPS, with a minimum of 223 FPS and a maximum of 301 FPS. The High setting produces an average of 207 FPS, and the Ultra setting produces an average of 153 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 138 FPS, which is a significant range, but even the lowest result (153 FPS) is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many gamers target. The Medium setting’s minimum of 223 FPS indicates that frame pacing is consistent, with no noticeable drops below the average.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but begin to taper off. The Low setting produces an average of 234 FPS, which is 19.6% lower than the 1080p Low result. The Medium setting produces an average of 175 FPS, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS. The High setting produces an average of 132 FPS, and the Ultra setting produces an average of 98 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 136 FPS, which is similar in magnitude to the drop at 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower. The Medium setting’s minimum of 149 FPS is still above 144 Hz, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate gaming, while the High setting’s 132 FPS average is just below that threshold.

At 4K, the frame rates are lower, and the Ultra setting is the only one that falls below 60 FPS. The Low setting produces an average of 124 FPS, which is still a very playable result. The Medium setting produces an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS. The High setting produces an average of 71 FPS, and the Ultra setting produces an average of 52 FPS. The Medium setting’s minimum of 79 FPS ensures that there are no major frame drops, even during intense scenes, but the Ultra setting’s 52 FPS average means that players seeking the highest visual fidelity will need to accept a less smooth experience. The 4K High result of 71 FPS is a good compromise for those who want a balance between quality and performance, as it is above the 60 FPS threshold that is often considered the minimum for a playable experience.