Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a compelling performance profile in Hitman 2, a stealth title from 2018 that remains demanding at high resolutions. Benchmark data shows this combination achieves playable frame rates across most settings, with a combo rank of 315 out of 3711 tested configurations, placing it in the top 8.5% of all tested combos. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads based on Zen 5 architecture, combined with the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and Ada Lovelace architecture, create a balanced pairing where the limiting factor shifts depending on resolution and preset.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 126 FPS, which is 45 FPS lower than the High preset at the same resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's score of 54247, indicating near-identical performance between the two cards.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 171 at 1920x1080 to 58 at 3840x2160, representing a 66% reduction in frame rate.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X outperform the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in CPU benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 37943, which is 0.1% higher than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370's score of 37904, making them statistically equivalent.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 123, while the High and Ultra presets do not report minimum FPS values in the measured data.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4080 SUPER have?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The GPU contains 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation pipelines, along with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. Its base clock runs at 2295 MHz, boosting to 2550 MHz, while the memory operates at 1438 MHz with an effective data rate of 23 Gbps. This configuration delivers 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS falls to 43, indicating the GPU is heavily loaded. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that texture-heavy scenes at high resolutions do not encounter memory limitations. The GPU's benchmark scores show it sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 54209. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, placing the RTX 4080 SUPER slightly behind. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, which is 2.7% higher, but this does not translate directly to gaming performance.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s is crucial for Hitman 2's detailed environments. At 4K Medium settings, the average FPS is 77 with a minimum of 65 and maximum of 88, showing that the GPU can maintain reasonable frame rates when settings are moderated. The transition from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a dramatic scaling: 103 FPS at Low, 77 at Medium, 58 at High, and 43 at Ultra. This progression highlights how the GPU's compute and memory resources are taxed by higher preset levels.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. The CPU supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes and includes integrated Radeon Graphics.

In CPU benchmark tests, the Ryzen 7 9700X demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 20485, while the single-core score reaches 2211. Geekbench results show 17906 for multicore and 3023 for single-core. The 3DMark tests reveal scaling from 1280 in single-thread to 9824 in 16-thread and 9771 in max-thread tests, indicating efficient use of all cores. PassMark results show a multithread score of 37161 and a single-thread score of 4654.

The CPU's percentile rank is 86th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14901E at 37911 (0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 37904 (0.1% delta), the Intel Core 5 211E at 37829 (0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 at 37804 (0.4% delta). This places the 9700X in a tightly contested performance tier.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 301, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently. The 8 cores and 16 threads are well-suited for Hitman 2's game logic and AI systems. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 43, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a wide range across presets. Low settings produce an average of 301 FPS, Medium produces 226 FPS with a minimum of 192 and maximum of 260, High produces 171 FPS, and Ultra produces 126 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 58% reduction in average FPS, demonstrating that even at this resolution, the GPU is affected by preset levels.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are 192 for Low, 144 for Medium (with minimum 123 and maximum 166), 109 for High, and 80 for Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is from 171 to 109 FPS, a 36% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 126 to 80 FPS, a 37% reduction. This consistent scaling suggests both CPU and GPU are contributing to performance.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are 103 for Low, 77 for Medium (with minimum 65 and maximum 88), 58 for High, and 43 for Ultra. The 4K resolution significantly stresses the GPU. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 60 FPS, going from 103 to 43, which represents a 58% reduction. The Medium preset at 4K provides the only complete min/max data, with a minimum of 65 FPS, which is above the threshold for smooth gameplay in most scenarios.

Comparing across resolutions at the same preset, High settings show 171 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the values are 226, 144, and 77 FPS, a 66% drop as well. The consistent percentage drops across presets indicate that the scaling behavior is resolution-driven rather than preset-driven.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 315th out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the combo in the top 8.5% of all tested configurations, indicating a high-performance pairing. The rank reflects the synergy between the CPU and GPU when running this specific game.

In the context of the CPU's benchmark performance, the 9700X sits at the 86th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 37943. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14901E, scores 37911, a delta of 0.1%, meaning the two processors are virtually indistinguishable in synthetic benchmarks. Similarly, the GPU's average benchmark score of 54209 places it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with the RTX 4080 scoring 54247, a delta of -0.1%.

The combo rank of 315 suggests that while both components are individually strong, the pairing is not at the very top of the rankings. This is likely because Hitman 2's performance is more sensitive to certain hardware characteristics than others. The 8-core, 16-thread CPU configuration appears sufficient for the game's demands, but the GPU's performance at 4K Ultra (43 FPS) suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER, while powerful, is not the absolute fastest option for this title at maximum settings.

The data indicates that this combo performs best at 1440p, where High settings achieve 109 FPS and Ultra settings achieve 80 FPS, both well within playable ranges. At 4K, the combo can handle High settings at 58 FPS and Medium at 77 FPS, but Ultra pushes it to 43 FPS, which may be borderline for some players.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 126 FPS and High achieving 171 FPS. The Medium preset offers a balanced experience at 226 FPS with a minimum of 192 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in demanding scenes. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset at 301 FPS may be attractive, but the visual quality trade-off is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 109 FPS, which is ideal for most gaming scenarios, while Ultra achieves 80 FPS, providing enhanced visuals without sacrificing playability. The Medium preset at 144 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS offers a strong balance for competitive play. The Low preset at 192 FPS is excessive for most displays and sacrifices too much visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, delivering 77 FPS with a minimum of 65 FPS, ensuring consistent performance above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 58 FPS is playable but may experience occasional dips. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 103 FPS provides high frame rates but significantly reduces visual quality.

The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p provides the best overall experience for this combo, balancing visual quality with performance. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, maintaining an average FPS above 60 with a minimum of 65.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns as resolution increases. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings reduces the average FPS from 171 to 109, a 36% drop. Moving further to 3840x2160 reduces it to 58, an additional 47% drop from 1440p. The cumulative drop from 1080p to 4K is 66%.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 226 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 77 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 36% and 47% respectively, matching the High preset pattern. This consistency suggests that the performance scaling is primarily resolution-driven, with the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At Low settings, the values are 301 FPS at 1080p, 192 FPS at 1440p, and 103 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46%. The Low preset at 4K still achieves over 100 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not fully saturated at this resolution with reduced settings.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the CPU plays a significant role, as evidenced by the high frame rates that approach the CPU's capability limits. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, with frame rates dropping to levels that reflect the GPU's raw performance. The consistent 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all presets suggests that the transition to 1440p taxes the GPU proportionally, while the additional 47% drop to 4K reflects the exponential increase in pixel count.

The limiting component analysis shows that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound at Low and Medium settings, where frame rates exceed 226 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, the system is clearly GPU-bound at 43 FPS. The sweet spot for balanced performance is 1440p, where the combo delivers strong frame rates across all presets without hitting either component's absolute limit.