Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a wide spread of frame rates across Hitman 2’s four presets and three resolutions. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution, but the shape of that scaling changes depending on the preset. This analysis walks through the numbers step by step, starting with how the GPU load shifts as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep across all presets, but the magnitude varies. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 302 at 1080p to 103 at 4K — a reduction of roughly 66% — while at Ultra, the drop goes from 126 to 43, a reduction of about 66% as well. At High, the decline is from 172 to 58, a 66% decrease, and at Medium, from 227 to 77, again about 66%. This consistent proportional drop suggests that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at every preset when moving to higher resolutions; the CPU’s contribution does not change the scaling ratio.

Looking at the intermediate step, 2560x1440 sits almost exactly halfway in pixel count between 1080p and 4K. At High settings, the average FPS at 1440p is 110, which is 64% of the 1080p value (172) and 190% of the 4K value (58). At Medium, 1440p delivers 145 FPS, which is 64% of 1080p’s 227 and 188% of 4K’s 77. At Low, 1440p reaches 193 FPS — 64% of 302 at 1080p and 187% of 103 at 4K. At Ultra, 1440p shows 81 FPS, which is 64% of 126 at 1080p and 188% of 43 at 4K. This near-uniform ratio across all presets indicates that the rendering load scales linearly with pixel count for this game on this hardware, with no unexpected cliff or plateau.

The limiting component shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU’s role is more visible because the GPU can produce very high frame rates — 302 FPS at Low and 227 FPS at Medium — but the measured numbers still climb steadily with lower settings, showing that even at 1080p the GPU is not fully idle. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the constraint: the gap between Low (103 FPS) and Ultra (43 FPS) is 60 FPS, while at 1080p that same gap is 176 FPS (302 vs 126). The data shows that the RTX 4080’s raw throughput is the deciding factor at 4K, whereas the Ryzen 7 7700X has enough headroom to feed higher frame rates at lower resolutions, but even then the GPU remains the primary limiter.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 7700X provides 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores reflect strong single-thread and multi-thread performance: Cinebench R23 single-core scores 1987, multi-core 19088, and Geekbench single-core 2289, multi-core 12451. For Hitman 2, a stealth game that relies on crowd simulation and AI pathfinding, these figures matter because the game’s CPU load tends to scale with scene complexity rather than pure frame rate.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the average reaches 302 FPS. That number is high enough that even a capable GPU would struggle to go much further without a strong processor. The 7700X’s 16 threads allow it to handle background tasks while keeping the main game thread fed. Its 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is relevant for Hitman 2’s open-ended levels where many NPCs and dynamic objects are tracked simultaneously.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 7700X’s average benchmark score of 35909 is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core 7 250H, and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350. It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.7%. These deltas are small, meaning that in CPU-bound scenarios the 7700X will perform nearly identically to those alternatives. The measured FPS data for this combo shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 302 FPS, which is far above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most monitors, so the CPU is not a limiting factor for typical displays. At 4K Ultra, the average is 43 FPS, which is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU has ample headroom.

The CPU’s 105 W TDP and DDR5 memory support (dual-channel, 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide a stable platform for sustained gaming loads. The 5 nm process node from TSMC and the Zen 4 architecture contribute to the high clock speeds without excessive power draw. For Hitman 2 specifically, the data shows no signs of CPU bottlenecking: the FPS scales smoothly with resolution and settings, indicating that the processor can keep up with the GPU’s demands at every measured point.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra for this combo?

A: The measured average is 126 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4080’s average benchmark score is 54247, which is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209) but 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828) and 2.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 43, which is the lowest measured value. The GPU is the bottleneck because lowering settings to Low raises the average to 103 FPS, while the CPU’s 16 threads and high boost clock remain underutilized.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming?

A: At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 227, and at Low it reaches 302. For a 240 Hz display, 1080p Low or Medium would be suitable; for 144 Hz, 2560x1440 Medium (145 FPS) or High (110 FPS) are options.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in this game?

A: This combo ranks 255 out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all tested systems for Hitman 2.

Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM of the RTX 4080 affect performance in this game?

A: The data does not show VRAM capacity as a limiting factor at any resolution or preset. The highest memory pressure would occur at 4K Ultra, but the average FPS of 43 is consistent with GPU compute limits rather than memory exhaustion, as lowering settings to Medium (77 FPS) or Low (103 FPS) increases performance proportionally.

How This Combo Ranks

In Hitman 2, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination holds rank 255 out of 3711 tested combos. That places it in the 93rd percentile of all systems — meaning roughly 93% of tested configurations deliver lower or equal performance in this game. The rank reflects the combined effect of the CPU and GPU, and the measured FPS data supports a high ranking: at 1080p High, the system averages 172 FPS, and at 4K High, it averages 58 FPS, both figures that would be competitive on most gaming monitors.

The comparison to other combos is contextual. The RTX 4080’s nearest rivals — the RTX 4080 SUPER, Radeon Pro W5700X, RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and Radeon 8060S — have average benchmark scores within 2.7% of each other. In real gaming terms, that translates to a few frames per second difference at most. The 7700X’s nearest rivals are similarly close, with deltas under 1%. This means that swapping the CPU for a Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 or the GPU for an RTX 4080 SUPER would produce nearly identical FPS in Hitman 2, based on the benchmark data. The rank of 255 is therefore representative of a high-end pairing, but not an outlier — many other combos with similar hardware would land within a few positions.

The data also shows that the combo’s rank is driven by the GPU more than the CPU. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 43, which is playable but not smooth on high refresh rate displays. At 1080p Low, the average of 302 FPS is among the highest measured values in the dataset, confirming that the RTX 4080 can push very high frame rates when the resolution is low enough. The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to avoid dragging down these numbers, as evidenced by the linear scaling across resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured FPS values, the best experience depends on the target display. For a 60 Hz monitor, 4K High (58 FPS) is nearly ideal, and 4K Medium (77 FPS) provides headroom for dips. For a 144 Hz monitor, 1440p High (110 FPS) or 1440p Medium (145 FPS) are the sweet spots, balancing visual quality with frame rate. At 1080p, the system can drive High (172 FPS) or Medium (227 FPS) effortlessly, and even Ultra (126 FPS) stays above 120 FPS.

The data shows that the step from Medium to High costs roughly 30-35% of performance at every resolution: at 4K, Medium is 77 FPS and High is 58 FPS; at 1440p, 145 vs 110; at 1080p, 227 vs 172. The step from High to Ultra costs even more — about 25-30% further reduction (58 to 43 at 4K, 110 to 81 at 1440p, 172 to 126 at 1080p). Low settings provide the highest frame rates but sacrifice visual fidelity, which in a stealth game can affect visibility of enemies and environmental details.

For most users, the recommended preset is High at 1440p or 4K, depending on the monitor. High delivers 110 FPS at 1440p, which is smooth for competitive play, and 58 FPS at 4K, which is acceptable for single-player stealth. If the user prioritizes frame rate over visuals, Medium at 1440p (145 FPS) or 1080p (227 FPS) are excellent choices. Ultra is only advisable for users with a 60 Hz 4K display who want maximum fidelity, accepting the 43 FPS average. The measured minimum FPS at Medium settings — 66 at 4K, 123 at 1440p, 193 at 1080p — indicates that Medium has stable frame pacing, making it a safer choice for consistent performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are: Low 302, Medium 227 (min 193, max 261), High 172, and Ultra 126. These numbers show that even the highest preset stays above 120 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. The gap between Low and Ultra is 176 FPS, indicating that the GPU has substantial headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 193, Medium 145 (min 123, max 167), High 110, and Ultra 81. The Medium preset’s minimum of 123 FPS is still above 120, so most users would not notice frame drops. The gap between Low and Ultra is 112 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p but still significant.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 103, Medium 77 (min 66, max 89), High 58, and Ultra 43. The Medium preset’s minimum of 66 FPS is close to the 60 FPS threshold, so occasional dips below 60 are possible during heavy scenes. The gap between Low and Ultra is 60 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K. The Ultra preset’s 43 FPS average is below 60, which may be noticeable on standard displays.

The data also shows that the Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame times, as it is the only preset with recorded min and max values. At 1080p Medium, the min is 193 and max is 261, a range of 68 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 44 FPS (123 to 167). At 4K Medium, the range is 23 FPS (66 to 89). This narrowing range with resolution suggests that the GPU workload becomes more uniform at higher pixel counts, reducing frame time variance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a 5 nm chip with 45,900 million transistors and a die size of 379 mm². Its base clock is 2205 MHz with a boost clock of 2505 MHz, and the memory runs at 22.4 Gbps effective with a 256-bit bus, yielding 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The 16 GB of GDDR6X VRAM is more than sufficient for Hitman 2, which was released in 2018 and does not require large texture pools at 1080p or 1440p. At 4K, the 16 GB capacity provides headroom for Ultra settings, though the measured FPS indicates the GPU’s compute throughput, not memory capacity, is the limiting factor.

The GPU’s benchmark scores are strong: it ranks in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209 (0.1% lower), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher). These close scores mean that in Hitman 2, the RTX 4080’s performance is essentially at parity with its closest competitors — any difference in FPS would be within measurement noise.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role is dominant at 4K. The drop from Low (103 FPS) to Ultra (43 FPS) is a 58% reduction, which aligns with the increased shader and texture work at higher presets. At 1080p, the same drop is from 302 to 126 (58% reduction), showing that the GPU scales consistently with settings regardless of resolution. The RTX 4080’s 9728 shading units and 304 TMUs handle Hitman 2’s lighting and shadow effects efficiently, but the game’s age means it does not utilize ray tracing heavily, so the 76 RT cores are not a major factor. The 304 tensor cores are similarly underutilized, as the game does not support DLSS in the measured data.

The GPU’s 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are designed for sustained loads, and the 700 W suggested PSU provides adequate headroom. The 16-pin power connector is standard for this class. The bus interface of PCIe 4.0 x16 is more than enough for the game’s data transfer needs, and the 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming at 4K does not cause hitches. Overall, the RTX 4080 is the clear performance driver in this combo, with the CPU providing a strong supporting role that never becomes a bottleneck.