Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a distinctly playable, though not maxed-out, experience in Hitman 2, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The data shows a predictable progression where frame rates diminish as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline reveals important insights about where the bottleneck lies in this particular configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 shows a steep and consistent drop as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K, a pattern that points directly at the GPU as the limiting component. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 75 FPS, but moving to 1440p drops that figure to 48 FPS, a 36% reduction. Pushing further to 4K at the same settings yields just 25 FPS, which is 67% lower than the 1080p result. These large percentage declines across relatively modest resolution increases are the hallmark of a graphics-card-bound scenario, where the RTX 2060's rendering throughput, rather than the CPU's processing power, is the ceiling.

The trend holds across all four settings presets. With Low settings, the system achieves 132 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. Medium settings follow suit with 99 FPS at 1080p, 63 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. Even the heaviest Ultra preset, which only manages 55 FPS at 1080p, scales down to 35 FPS at 1440p and a marginal 19 FPS at 4K. The uniformity of these drops—roughly 36-37% from 1080p to 1440p and another 47-48% from 1440p to 4K across all presets—indicates that the GPU is saturated regardless of the graphical load being placed upon it.

This behavior suggests that the Ryzen 7 5800X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the factor holding performance back in this title. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a flatter curve where FPS remains relatively stable as resolution increases, since the CPU workload in Hitman 2 does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the linear decline in frame rates with every step up in resolution tells a clear story: the RTX 2060 is being pushed to its limits, and the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are what determine the final output.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node, featuring a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz. Its memory configuration includes 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the card in the 58th percentile of all GPUs according to the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 15290, situating it near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (deltaPct 0.0) and the AMD Radeon 680M (deltaPct 0.1).

The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor in Hitman 2 at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K with Ultra settings, the GPU's 48 ROPs and 80.64 GPixel/s pixel rate are clearly insufficient, resulting in the measured 19 FPS average. The card's 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is likewise stretched thin when handling the increased shader workload at 4K. The memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, while adequate for 1080p, becomes a limiting factor as the resolution increases and the GPU must access larger texture sets and higher-resolution buffers.

Benchmark results show the RTX 2060 achieving a Passmark G3D score of 14111 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 65846, numbers that correlate with its mid-range positioning. In Hitman 2 specifically, the card's performance at 1080p is solid—75 FPS on High settings is a comfortable experience—but the 4K results, ranging from 19 FPS on Ultra to 45 FPS on Low, confirm that this GPU is not designed for 4K gaming in this title. The card's DirectX 12 benchmark score of 53 (Passmark) further suggests that it handles modern API workloads adequately but not exceptionally, which aligns with the measured frame rates in this DX12-capable game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Hitman 2?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets remain playable, with averages ranging from 55 FPS on Ultra to 132 FPS on Low. At 1440p, performance drops below 60 FPS on High and Ultra settings, while 4K only manages playable frame rates on Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals in general benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, which is virtually identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 at 15283 (deltaPct 0.0) and the AMD Radeon 680M at 15270 (deltaPct 0.1). It sits slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (deltaPct 0.6) and AMD Radeon RX 7600 (deltaPct 0.8).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800X holding back the RTX 2060 in Hitman 2?

A: No. The FPS scaling pattern—where frame rates drop by roughly 36% from 1080p to 1440p and another 47-48% to 4K—indicates the GPU is the bottleneck. The 5800X's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample CPU headroom, as evidenced by its high multi-threaded benchmark scores like 15476 in Cinebench R23 multicore.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 63 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 5800X rank among all CPUs?

A: The 5800X sits in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29123. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Xeon Phi 7210 (deltaPct -0.4), and Intel Core i5-13500HX (deltaPct -0.5).

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: Only with significant compromises. At 4K, Low settings produce 45 FPS, Medium produces 34 FPS, High produces 25 FPS, and Ultra produces 19 FPS. For smooth gameplay, 1080p is the recommended resolution, with 1440p viable only on Low or Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

For the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 in Hitman 2, the measured data suggests that 1080p with High settings offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 75 FPS average at this configuration is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, and High settings provide substantially better visual fidelity than Low while still maintaining a strong frame rate. Pushing to Ultra at 1080p drops the average to 55 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the recommended choice is Medium settings, which delivers 63 FPS on average with a minimum of 54 FPS. This is the only 1440p preset that stays above the 60 FPS mark, and the Medium preset's visual compromise is acceptable for a stealth game where frame consistency matters. High settings at 1440p drops to 48 FPS, which may feel less responsive, while Ultra at 35 FPS is not recommended for action sequences.

For 4K, the data clearly shows that this GPU is out of its depth. Even Low settings only produce 45 FPS, and the frame rate falls to 34 FPS on Medium, 25 FPS on High, and 19 FPS on Ultra. If 4K is a requirement, Low settings is the only viable option, but players seeking a smoother experience should prioritize 1080p or 1440p instead. The measured frame time data, where Medium at 1440p shows a range of 54-73 FPS, suggests that this preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolution options when considering the balance between visual quality and playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its strongest results across all presets. Low settings yield an average of 132 FPS, Medium produces 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and maximum of 114 FPS, High achieves 75 FPS, and Ultra delivers 55 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra represents a 77 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution to accommodate various visual quality levels.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably but remains functional for several presets. Low settings average 84 FPS, Medium averages 63 FPS with a range of 54-73 FPS, High drops to 48 FPS, and Ultra falls to 35 FPS. The 1440p results show a tighter grouping, with a 49 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, suggesting that the GPU's rendering capacity is becoming a stronger limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal across the board. Low settings manage an average of 45 FPS, Medium averages 34 FPS with a range of 29-39 FPS, High drops to 25 FPS, and Ultra produces just 19 FPS. The 4K results compress further, with only a 26 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU is struggling to maintain playable frame rates regardless of the settings chosen.

The RTX 2060's performance in this game is consistent with its overall benchmark positioning. With a Passmark G3D score of 14111 and a percentile rank of 58, the card performs as expected for its tier. The measured FPS data shows that the combo ranks 2936 out of 3711 total combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in the lower-middle portion of all tested configurations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X plays a supporting role in this configuration, providing ample processing power that rarely becomes the limiting factor in Hitman 2. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and 7 nm process node from TSMC contribute to strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by benchmark scores of 1574.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 15476 in Cinebench R23 multi-core.

The 5800X's single-thread performance is particularly relevant for Hitman 2, a game that relies on a few primary threads for game logic and AI. The 3dmark single-thread score of 943 and Geekbench single-core score of 2032 indicate strong per-core performance that can keep up with the game's demands. Multi-threaded scores, including 7586 in 3dmark 16-threads and 27732 in Passmark multithread, show that the CPU has substantial headroom for background tasks and future titles.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the constraint in this pairing. The consistent frame rate drops across resolution increases—from 75 FPS at 1080p High to 48 FPS at 1440p High to 25 FPS at 4K High—demonstrate that the RTX 2060's rendering capability is what determines the final output. The 5800X's 16 threads and high clock speeds ensure that it can feed the GPU with data efficiently, but the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus become the limiting factors at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (deltaPct 0.1) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT (deltaPct 0.6), both of which have similar average scores around 29000. This places the 5800X in the 81st percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is a high-performing processor that would not bottleneck most GPUs in this class. In Hitman 2 specifically, the data confirms that the CPU's role is to provide stable, high-frequency performance that prevents frame drops, while the GPU handles the graphical workload that scales with resolution and settings.