Hitman 2

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves the top position in Hitman 2, ranking #1 out of 3,001 tested combos in this database. This is the definitive combination for this title, with no other CPU-GPU pairing producing higher measured frame rates. The rank is not marginal either — the data shows a commanding lead across every resolution and preset tier tested. When a combo ranks this high, it signals that neither the processor nor the graphics card creates a meaningful bottleneck at any tested setting, and the measured FPS results confirm that.

Benchmark results indicate that this pairing extracts near-theoretical performance from Hitman 2's engine. The RTX 5090 D's raw compute muscle — with its 21,760 shading units and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput — is fully fed by the Ryzen 7 9700F's eight Zen 5 cores. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 4,691 and multithread score of 36,470 place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, ensuring that even the most demanding stealth-AI and crowd-simulation scenarios in Hitman 2 do not starve the GPU. The data shows this combo is not just fast; it is the fastest tested, making it the reference point for all other configurations.

FAQ

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700F bottleneck the RTX 5090 D in Hitman 2?

A: No. The measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 365 avg FPS, which is far beyond display refresh rates, and the scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound workload. The CPU's 8 cores, 16 threads, and 5.50 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom. Its PassMark multithread score of 36,470 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875 avg) and 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70,163 avg), showing it trades blows with top-tier rivals.

Q: What is the best preset to use at 4K?

A: Medium at 3840x2160 yields 93 avg FPS with a 79 min and 107 max FPS, which is the optimal balance for smooth 4K gameplay. High drops to 71 avg FPS, and Ultra falls to 52 avg FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players target. Low at 4K produces 124 avg FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity unnecessarily.

Q: How much faster is this combo at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the gap is substantial: 365 avg FPS at 1920x1080 versus 124 avg FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 66% reduction. At High settings, the drop is from 207 to 71 avg FPS, a 66% reduction as well. The consistent ratio indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at both resolutions, not the CPU.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 D significantly ahead of its nearest rivals?

A: In the GPU's aggregate benchmark average of 77,712, it is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904) and 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940). However, in Hitman 2 specifically, the measured data shows this combo achieves #1 rank, suggesting the game favors the RTX 5090 D's architecture more than synthetic benchmarks indicate.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the measured avg FPS is 98, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. This provides a high-fidelity experience at a resolution where the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are fully utilized.

Q: What about the CPU's cache and memory configuration for gaming?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has 32 MB of shared L3 cache, 1 MB L2 per core, and 80 KB L1 per core. It supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth and ECC. These specifications, combined with PCIe Gen 5 (24 lanes), allow the CPU to feed the RTX 5090 D without memory bandwidth constraints, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1080p where CPU overhead matters most.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data supports a clear hierarchy of settings for this combo. For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, Low at 1920x1080 delivers 365 avg FPS, which is far beyond any display's refresh rate and ideal for competitive or high-refresh scenarios. However, Low at 4K still yields 124 avg FPS, making it viable for those who demand 4K resolution above all else.

For the best visual-to-performance balance, Medium settings are the sweet spot. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 274 avg FPS with a 233 min and 315 max FPS, providing a smooth experience with better shadows and textures than Low. At 2560x1440, Medium hits 175 avg FPS with a 149 min and 201 max FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh 1440p monitors. At 3840x2160, Medium maintains 93 avg FPS with a 79 min and 107 max FPS, which is the only preset that keeps 4K gameplay above 60 FPS at all times.

High settings are suited for 1440p or 1080p use. At 2560x1440 High, the combo achieves 132 avg FPS, and at 1920x1080 High, it reaches 207 avg FPS. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 71 FPS, which is playable but with less headroom for drops during busy scenes. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p (153 avg FPS) or 1440p (98 avg FPS) use, as 4K Ultra dips to 52 avg FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may feel stuttery in action-heavy moments.

The data unequivocally points to Medium as the best all-around preset for this combo, particularly at 4K where it delivers a 79% improvement over Ultra (93 vs 52 avg FPS) while still looking markedly better than Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings achieve 365 avg FPS, Medium reaches 274 avg FPS (with a 233 min and 315 max), High delivers 207 avg FPS, and Ultra still manages 153 avg FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 5090 D is not fully stressed, and the Ryzen 7 9700F's 5.50 GHz boost clock is the primary driver of performance, particularly at Low where CPU-bound scenarios dominate.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low yields 234 avg FPS, Medium produces 175 avg FPS (149 min, 201 max), High drops to 132 avg FPS, and Ultra falls to 98 avg FPS. The 1440p results show a 36% reduction from 1080p at Low settings (365 to 234) and a 36% reduction at Medium (274 to 175), confirming that the GPU is beginning to take on more load but the CPU still provides ample support.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings deliver 124 avg FPS, Medium achieves 93 avg FPS (79 min, 107 max), High drops to 71 avg FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 52 avg FPS. The 4K results show a 66% reduction from 1080p at Low (365 to 124) and a 66% reduction at High (207 to 71), which is a stark reminder of the pixel throughput required at 4K. The min FPS of 79 at 4K Medium is particularly notable, as it shows the combo maintains smooth performance even in demanding scenes.

The measured data also reveals the scaling between presets. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 25% performance (365 to 274), from Medium to High costs 24% (274 to 207), and from High to Ultra costs 26% (207 to 153). At 4K, the same transitions cost 25% (124 to 93), 24% (93 to 71), and 27% (71 to 52), showing consistent preset scaling regardless of resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, indicating the GPU is the primary limiting factor. At Low settings, the reduction is 241 avg FPS (365 to 124), a 66% decrease. At Medium, the reduction is 181 avg FPS (274 to 93), also a 66% decrease. At High, the reduction is 136 avg FPS (207 to 71), again a 66% decrease. At Ultra, the reduction is 101 avg FPS (153 to 52), a 66% decrease.

This uniform 66% reduction across all presets is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the percentage drop would be smaller at higher resolutions (where the GPU takes longer per frame) and larger at 1080p (where the CPU is more exposed). Instead, the data shows the RTX 5090 D's rendering throughput scales linearly with pixel count, and the Ryzen 7 9700F is never the limiting factor.

The RTX 5090 D's specifications explain this behavior. With a 512-bit memory bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, the GPU can feed its 21,760 shading units efficiently at any resolution. The 32 GB GDDR7 memory also ensures no texture or geometry data spills to system RAM, even at 4K Ultra. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are sufficient to handle Hitman 2's detailed environments at 4K, but the sheer pixel count still imposes the observed 66% penalty.

Interestingly, the 1440p results sit exactly between 1080p and 4K, as expected. From 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops by 36% (e.g., Low from 365 to 234), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops by another 47% (e.g., Low from 234 to 124). This geometric progression confirms that the GPU's rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution, with no unexpected cliffs or plateaus.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on TSMC's 4 nm process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz can boost up to 5.50 GHz, and it has a 65W TDP. In Hitman 2, this CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI pathfinding for NPCs, and draw-call submission to the GPU. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,691 places it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, which is crucial for a game like Hitman 2 that relies heavily on single-threaded performance for stealth mechanics and crowd simulations.

The CPU's multithread score of 36,470 is competitive with top-tier rivals: it is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875 avg), 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70,163 avg), 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515 avg), and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700K (69,355 avg). These narrow deltas show that the 9700F is not a performance outlier but rather a well-balanced chip that matches or slightly exceeds its direct competitors in aggregate benchmarks.

In the context of Hitman 2, the data shows the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, where CPU-bound scenarios are most likely, the combo still achieves 365 avg FPS, which is far beyond any practical display refresh rate. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for Hitman 2's engine, which was designed for the multi-core era but does not scale infinitely with thread count.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures the GPU receives data without stalling. The PCIe Gen 5 interface (24 lanes) provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 5090 D's PCIe 5.0 x16 bus, eliminating any potential transfer bottlenecks. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache also helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing latency in physics and AI computations.

The Ryzen 7 9700F's 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with its 5.50 GHz boost clock, makes it an ideal match for the RTX 5090 D in this title. The measured FPS data confirms that the combo ranks #1 out of 3,001 tested configurations, with the CPU providing enough single-thread and multithread performance to keep the GPU fully utilized at all settings and resolutions. The 0.2% delta to the Ryzen 9 7940HX and -0.2% delta to the i7-14700KF in aggregate benchmarks indicate that the 9700F is not leaving any performance on the table, and the #1 combo rank in Hitman 2 validates this pairing as the ultimate choice for this game.