Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers a broad performance envelope in Hitman 2, ranging from high-refresh 1080p play to a playable, though demanding, 4K experience. The data shows that this pairing ranks 565th out of 1795 tested combinations in this game, placing it firmly in the upper third of all hardware pairings. Performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, but the relationship between the CPU’s strong synthetic scores and the GPU’s raw throughput reveals a system that is well-balanced for most scenarios, with the GPU becoming the clear limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent drop in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 128.9 FPS at 1080p to 85.9 FPS at 1440p, and then to 42.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 50% reduction from 1440p to 4K, illustrating the heavy toll that pixel count takes on the rendering pipeline.

This scaling behavior is typical of a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At 1080p, the RTX 3080 is able to produce very high frame rates, with the Low preset hitting 225.9 FPS. However, the jump to 4K forces the GPU to work much harder, and the frame rate drops by more than half on the same Low preset, landing at 77.3 FPS. The fact that the 4K High preset (42.7 FPS) is significantly slower than the 1440p Ultra preset (63.3 FPS) further confirms that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the deciding factors at higher resolutions.

The gap between settings also widens at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 131.4 FPS (225.9 vs. 94.5). At 4K, that same gap shrinks to 43.3 FPS (77.3 vs. 34). This compression of the settings range at 4K suggests that the GPU is so saturated that even lowering settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel workload. In contrast, at 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU, allowing the graphics settings to have a much larger impact on the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing for Hitman 2, particularly as resolution increases. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is essential for feeding the high-resolution textures and geometry that Hitman 2’s levels present. The data suggests that this memory configuration is sufficient for the game, as no min FPS values are recorded to indicate stuttering or memory-related dips.

The GPU’s clock speeds, with a base of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1710 MHz, are only part of the story. With 8704 shading units and 272 TMUs, the card’s theoretical texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s translate directly into the ability to handle complex scenes. In practice, the benchmark results show the GPU’s compute potential: a Passmark G3D score of 25086 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 167014 place it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs.

The RTX 3080’s performance in this game is competitive with its nearest rivals, though the differences are marginal. It scores 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon 880M and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile, while trailing the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE by 0.9%. These single-digit percentage differences indicate that the RTX 3080 remains a relevant performer in this title, even against newer hardware. The GPU’s 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is clearly being utilized, as the 4K Ultra preset still manages a 34 FPS average, which is borderline playable.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that at 4K with the High preset, the average FPS is 42.7, which is playable but not smooth for fast-paced action. For a more consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Low preset, which averages 77.3 FPS, is the only viable option. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 34 FPS, which is not recommended.

Q: How much of a performance jump is there from 1440p to 1080p?

A: The improvement is substantial. On the High preset, moving from 2560x1440 (85.9 FPS) to 1920x1080 (128.9 FPS) yields a 43 FPS increase, which is a 50% uplift. This makes 1080p the clear choice for high-refresh-rate monitors, as even the Ultra preset achieves 94.5 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700X holding back the RTX 3080 in this game?

A: The data indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, the frame rate drops are consistent with GPU limitations. However, at 1080p Low, the 225.9 FPS average shows that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well, but the GPU is still the limiting factor in most settings.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate?

A: The Medium preset, which averages 107.2 FPS, is the best match for a 144Hz display. The High preset at 85.9 FPS is also viable but will not fully saturate the refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 63.3 FPS is better suited for a 60Hz monitor.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 is essentially tied with its nearest competitors. It is 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon 880M and 1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile, while being 0.9% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE. These differences are negligible in real-world gameplay.

Q: Does lowering settings from High to Low provide a massive FPS boost?

A: Yes, the impact is significant. At 1080p, Low (225.9 FPS) is 75% faster than High (128.9 FPS). At 1440p, the jump is from 85.9 FPS to 143.4 FPS, a 67% increase. Even at 4K, Low (77.3 FPS) is 81% faster than High (42.7 FPS), making it the best way to increase performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the data shows that the Ultra preset is viable for 60Hz displays at 94.5 FPS, but for 144Hz or higher, the Medium preset (172.4 FPS) or Low preset (225.9 FPS) are the better choices to fully utilize the display’s capabilities. The High preset at 128.9 FPS is a good middle ground for 120Hz monitors.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 85.9 FPS is the sweet spot for 60Hz to 100Hz displays. The Medium preset at 107.2 FPS is better for 120Hz panels, while the Ultra preset at 63.3 FPS is only recommended for 60Hz monitors. The Low preset at 143.4 FPS is the only option that can drive a 144Hz panel to its full potential, but the visual compromise may not be worth it for a game that benefits from seeing enemies clearly.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. The Low preset at 77.3 FPS is the only setting that provides a smooth experience for 60Hz displays, while the Medium preset at 59.7 FPS is borderline acceptable. The High preset at 42.7 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS are not recommended for comfortable play, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth. For 4K, the data strongly favors the Low preset as the only practical choice for consistent performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 3080 and Ryzen 7 7700X produce excellent results across all settings. The Low preset averages 225.9 FPS, which is exceptionally high. The Medium preset drops to 172.4 FPS, a 24% reduction. The High preset averages 128.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset lands at 94.5 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% total performance loss, but even the lowest result is well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong but begin to show the GPU’s workload. The Low preset averages 143.4 FPS, which is still very high. Medium drops to 107.2 FPS, and High averages 85.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 63.3 FPS is the first setting to approach the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this resolution is where the GPU starts to feel pressured. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 80.1 FPS, a 56% drop.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens dramatically. The Low preset averages 77.3 FPS, which is the only setting that clears the 60 FPS mark. Medium averages 59.7 FPS, just barely below the threshold. High drops to 42.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 34 FPS. From Low to Ultra, the performance degrades by 43.3 FPS, a 56% reduction, but the absolute numbers are much lower, making every setting matter more for playability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X provides a strong foundation for this GPU in Hitman 2. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are substantial, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30325 and a Passmark multithread score of 35686. The single-thread performance is equally important for a game like Hitman 2, which relies on a primary game thread; the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4281 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4190 indicate that this CPU can handle the game’s logic without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU’s clock speeds, with a base of 4.50 GHz and a boost of 5.40 GHz, are high, and the 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data locality. In terms of overall CPU performance, the Ryzen 7 7700X scores 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-13500 and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i7-12800HX, while being 0.8% slower than both the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and the AMD EPYC 4244P. These near-identical results mean that the choice between these CPUs would not noticeably affect frame rates in this game.

The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is able to push the GPU to 225.9 FPS on Low settings, which confirms its headroom. However, the fact that performance drops so significantly at 4K, regardless of settings, confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s 16 threads and high boost clock are more than sufficient for Hitman 2’s engine, and its 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it will not be the source of any performance complaints in this pairing.