Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + Intel Arc B370

The benchmark results for this combination are decisively GPU-limited across all tested settings, with the Intel Arc B370's integrated-class performance constraining frame rates to sub-30 FPS averages at every resolution above 1080p. At 4K Ultra, the combo delivers just 10 FPS average, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested combinations for this title. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 86th-percentile standing among all CPUs, is never the bottleneck; instead, the Arc B370's 5th-percentile GPU ranking and its system-shared memory architecture create a hard ceiling that no CPU can overcome. Users should treat this pairing as proof that a high-end processor cannot compensate for a GPU operating at roughly 1/250th of the 3DMark Steel Nomad score of modern discrete graphics.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a GPU that saturates well before the CPU's capabilities are challenged. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 41 at 1920x1080 to 26 at 2560x1440, then further to 14 at 3840x2160. That represents a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a far steeper scaling curve than what a balanced system would show—indicating the Arc B370 is running at its compute limits even at the lowest resolution tested.

The Low preset tells a similar story with marginally better absolute numbers: 73 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K drop here is 66% as well, showing that resolution scaling penalties are consistent regardless of quality preset. The Medium preset, which is the only one with complete min/max FPS data, shows 54 FPS average at 1080p (min 46, max 63), 35 FPS at 1440p (min 30, max 40), and 19 FPS at 4K (min 16, max 21). The narrowing gap between min and max FPS as resolution increases—from a 17 FPS spread at 1080p to just 5 FPS at 4K—suggests the GPU is becoming fully saturated with pixel throughput work, leaving no headroom for frame time variance.

The Ultra preset delivers unplayable results at every resolution: 30 FPS at 1080p, 19 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. What is particularly telling is that the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 43 FPS (73 vs. 30), while at 4K the same preset gap is only 15 FPS (25 vs. 10). This compression of performance differences at higher resolutions confirms that the limiting component is the GPU's raw pixel processing capability, not its ability to handle specific graphical features. The data shows that dropping from 1080p to 1440p at Medium costs 19 FPS, while dropping from 1440p to 4K at the same preset costs another 16 FPS—a nearly linear relationship that would flatten if the CPU were becoming a constraint.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the definitive performance limiter in this combination, and its specifications explain why. The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, but it draws only 25 W TDP and uses system-shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." That memory configuration is the critical weakness: with no dedicated VRAM, the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth, and the measured results reflect this contention. The 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 ROPs produce a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, but those figures are meaningless when memory bandwidth is constrained by the system's shared DDR5 bus.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B370 scores 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, 0.2% faster), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, 0.5% faster), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, 0.7% faster), and AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, 1.4% slower). These are all integrated or entry-level mobile graphics solutions from over a decade ago, which contextualizes why Hitman 2's measured FPS are so low. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS and FP16 of 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1) are theoretically sufficient for older titles, but the system-shared memory and 25 W power envelope throttle sustained performance in real-world gaming.

The game data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 73 FPS, which approaches playability, but any increase in graphical fidelity or resolution causes a precipitous drop. The High preset at 1080p yields 41 FPS, which is already below the 60 FPS threshold many players target, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are irrelevant when the hardware cannot maintain adequate frame times. The 10 RT cores present in the B370 are unused in Hitman 2's traditional rendering pipeline, and the 20 ROPs become the bottleneck at higher resolutions where pixel fill rate demands increase geometrically.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear hierarchy for this combination: Low settings at 1080p is the only configuration that delivers a genuinely playable experience, with a 73 FPS average. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 FPS, which is acceptable for a stealth game where precise timing matters less than in competitive shooters, but it still falls short of smooth 60 FPS gameplay. The High preset at 1080p drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 30 FPS—both below the threshold for comfortable play.

At 1440p, the situation deteriorates further. Low settings produce 46 FPS, which is marginally playable, but Medium drops to 35 FPS and High to 26 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p manages only 19 FPS, making it effectively a slideshow. At 4K, no preset achieves more than 25 FPS, with Low hitting 25 FPS, Medium 19 FPS, High 14 FPS, and Ultra 10 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K is entirely off the table for this GPU, regardless of quality settings.

The optimal recommendation based on the data is 1080p with Low settings, which provides the best balance of frame rate and playability. If visual quality is prioritized, 1080p Medium at 54 FPS average (46 FPS minimum) is the highest preset that maintains a consistent frame rate above 45 FPS. The Medium preset's measured min/max range of 46-63 FPS at 1080p shows acceptable frame pacing, whereas the High and Ultra presets lack min/max data but their lower averages suggest more severe drops. Users should avoid 1440p entirely unless they can tolerate sub-50 FPS, and 4K should be considered only for screenshot purposes, not gameplay.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Hitman 2 at 60 FPS?

A: No. The highest measured average FPS across all settings and resolutions is 73 FPS at 1080p Low, but every other configuration falls below 60 FPS. The 1080p Low preset is the only one that exceeds 60 FPS, and it does so with a 73 FPS average.

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset achieves a playable frame rate. At 1080p, Low delivers 73 FPS and Medium delivers 54 FPS, while at 1440p the best result is 46 FPS on Low, and at 4K the best is 25 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it 0.2% behind the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), 0.5% behind the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). It is 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168).

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X bottleneck the Arc B370?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores—including a 20485 Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2211 single-core result—place it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking means the graphics card is the clear bottleneck, not the processor.

Q: What is the frame rate at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 10 FPS. This is the lowest result across all tested configurations and is unplayable for any practical purpose.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 54 at 1920x1080 to 35 at 2560x1440, then to 19 at 3840x2160. That is a 35% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46% reduction from 1440p to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 2768th out of 3001 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 7.8% of all systems evaluated. The ranking reflects the severe GPU limitation: while the Ryzen 7 9700X is a top-tier processor with an 86th-percentile standing among all CPUs, the Arc B370's 5th-percentile GPU ranking drags the combined system down to near-bottom-tier performance. The data shows that the 9700X's strengths—its 8 cores, 16 threads, and 5.50 GHz boost clock—contribute nothing to improving game FPS when the GPU cannot render frames fast enough.

The combo's position at 2768 out of 3001 means it outperforms only 233 other combinations in this game. This is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows sub-30 FPS averages at 4K across all settings and sub-50 FPS at 1440p except for the Low preset. The rank is particularly striking given the CPU's pedigree; a system with this processor and any discrete GPU from the past decade would likely rank significantly higher. The pairing's poor performance is directly attributable to the Arc B370's system-shared memory and 25 W TDP, which limit it to levels comparable to integrated graphics from the early 2010s.

For context, the GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database—the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770—are products from approximately 2010, yet they score within 1% of the Arc B370. This places the entire combo in a performance tier that predates Hitman 2's 2018 release by nearly a decade. The rank of 2768 out of 3001 is therefore not surprising given the GPU's age-equivalent performance, despite the CPU being one of the most capable processors available.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is emphatically not the limiting factor in this combination, and its benchmark profile shows why. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU delivers a 20485 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and a 2211 single-core score. Its 3DMark results scale from 2525 with 2 threads to 9771 with max threads, demonstrating strong multi-threading efficiency. The Geekbench scores of 17906 multi-core and 3023 single-core further confirm that the CPU has ample headroom for gaming workloads, which typically rely on 4-8 threads.

The CPU's 86th-percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943, places it in the upper echelon of processors. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i9-14901E (avg score 37911, 0.1% slower), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (37904, 0.1% slower), Intel Core 5 211E (37829, 0.3% slower), and AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 (37804, 0.4% slower). This grouping shows the 9700X performing essentially at parity with high-end desktop and mobile processors, all within 0.4% of each other.

In Hitman 2 specifically, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic, which it does effortlessly. The measured FPS scaling—where performance drops linearly with resolution increases—is the signature of a GPU-bound system. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions, but instead the 1080p Low result of 73 FPS suggests the GPU is still the constraint even at the least demanding settings. The 9700X's 65 W TDP and 4 nm TSMC process node allow it to maintain high boost clocks without thermal throttling, ensuring consistent CPU-side performance during gaming sessions. The CPU's 32 MB shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth provide ample data throughput for Hitman 2's level streaming and AI calculations, none of which appear to limit the measured frame rates.