Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Hitman 2 with the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 show a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly by preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p drops average FPS from 253 to 162, a 36% reduction, while moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings brings the average down to 86, another 47% drop. This steep scaling curve at Low settings indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises, since the CPU has ample headroom at these lower graphical loads.

The High preset tells a similar story but with a smaller absolute range. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 143 FPS average, which drops to 92 FPS at 1440p and further to 49 FPS at 4K. The percentage declines are 36% and 47% respectively, nearly identical to the Low preset scaling. This consistency suggests that the RTX 5070's rendering workload scales linearly with resolution regardless of preset complexity, at least within the High and Low tiers. The gap between 1080p and 1440p High (51 FPS) is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K High (43 FPS), but the relative scaling remains steady.

Medium settings show similar proportional behavior, with 189 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 65 FPS at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop is 46%, while the 1080p to 1440p drop is 36%. Ultra settings, however, exhibit a more dramatic scaling pattern. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 105 FPS, which falls to 67 FPS at 1440p (a 36% decrease) and then to 36 FPS at 4K (a 46% decrease from 1440p). The Ultra preset at 4K falls below the 40 FPS threshold, which is a critical finding for playability.

The pattern across all presets reveals that the 1080p to 1440p transition consistently costs about 36% of performance, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs roughly 46-47%. This nonlinear scaling suggests that the RTX 5070's memory bandwidth and fill rate become increasingly strained as resolution approaches 4K. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for 1440p but becomes a bottleneck at 4K across all settings. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combo is only viable at Low or Medium settings, where the 86 FPS and 65 FPS averages respectively provide smooth gameplay, while High and Ultra at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset offers the best balance for this specific CPU-GPU combination. At 1080p, all four presets deliver playable frame rates, with Low at 253 FPS, Medium at 189 FPS, High at 143 FPS, and Ultra at 105 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs 38 FPS (27%), while the jump from Medium to High costs 46 FPS (24%). For 1080p users, the High preset represents the sweet spot, as it maintains a 143 FPS average that exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors while retaining visual fidelity above the Medium preset's 189 FPS but with significantly better image quality.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. Low delivers 162 FPS, Medium 121 FPS, High 92 FPS, and Ultra 67 FPS. All four presets remain above 60 FPS, but the Ultra preset's 67 FPS average is close to that threshold and may exhibit frame-time inconsistencies in demanding scenes. The Medium preset at 121 FPS provides a substantial margin above 60 FPS while offering better visual quality than Low. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high refresh rate experience without sacrificing the visual benefits of the preset ladder. High at 92 FPS is also viable for users prioritizing image quality over raw frame rate.

At 4K, the choices become more constrained. Low averages 86 FPS, Medium 65 FPS, High 49 FPS, and Ultra 36 FPS. Only Low and Medium exceed the 60 FPS threshold, with Medium providing the minimum acceptable frame rate at 65 FPS. High and Ultra are not recommended for 4K gaming on this combo, as they fall below 50 FPS and 40 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset at 36 FPS is particularly problematic, as it approaches the lower bounds of playability for a stealth game that benefits from smooth camera movement. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 55 FPS minimum and 74 FPS maximum, offers the best compromise between visual quality and performance for 4K displays.

For users with variable refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1440p or 4K provides the most consistent experience, as the measured minimum FPS values (103 at 1440p, 55 at 4K) stay within a reasonable range of the averages. The High preset at 1080p also benefits from strong minimum performance, though the data only provides minimum FPS values for Medium settings across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a combo rank of 604 out of 3001 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the pairing in the top 20% of all tested configurations, a strong showing for a system built around a current-generation CPU and GPU. The rank reflects the combined performance of both components in this specific game, which is a stealth title that places moderate demands on both the CPU and GPU.

The CPU component of this combo ranks in the 92nd percentile among all processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 58386. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M, scores 58323, a mere 0.1% difference, while the Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, putting it 0.5% behind. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 leads this group slightly with 58826, a 0.7% advantage over the 9850X3D. This clustering suggests that the 9850X3D is competitive with top-tier server and desktop processors in synthetic workloads, though the margin over the i9-14900 is narrow.

The GPU component ranks in the 82nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 40318 (0.1% behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 40063 (0.8% behind). The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile trails by 2% at 39568, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 leads by 1.2% at 40870. The RTX 5070's position in this group indicates it performs similarly to professional workstation GPUs in synthetic benchmarks, though its gaming performance in Hitman 2 is what determines the combo's final ranking.

The combo rank of 604 out of 3001 suggests that while this pairing is strong, there are 603 configurations that achieve higher performance in Hitman 2. These likely include pairings with higher-end GPUs or CPUs that push the frame rates higher in this title. The rank also reflects the balance between the two components; the CPU's 92nd percentile ranking and the GPU's 82nd percentile ranking produce a combined result that is better than either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating good synergy in this game.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium provides the best balance, with 121 FPS average and a 103 FPS minimum, while 1080p High delivers 143 FPS for users prioritizing higher refresh rates. At 4K, only Low (86 FPS) and Medium (65 FPS) maintain playable frame rates above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 7 9850X3D compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU scores 58386 on average benchmarks, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323), 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-14900 (58115), and 0.7% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58826). It ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Is the RTX 5070's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Hitman 2 at high resolutions?

A: The measured FPS data indicates that 12 GB of GDDR7 memory is adequate for 4K gaming in this title, as the GPU maintains 49 FPS at High settings and 36 FPS at Ultra settings. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s appears to be a more significant factor than capacity, given the steep scaling from 1440p to 4K.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in the database?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 604th out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 20% of all configurations. The CPU ranks in the 92nd percentile and the GPU in the 82nd percentile individually.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings in Hitman 2?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 105 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 67 FPS, still above 60 FPS. At 4K, Ultra averages 36 FPS, which is below the playable threshold and not recommended.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic benchmark performance compare to its gaming performance?

A: The RTX 5070 scores 29137 in Passmark G3D and 5077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, ranking in the 82nd percentile. In Hitman 2, its gaming performance ranges from 253 FPS at 1080p Low to 36 FPS at 4K Ultra, demonstrating significant scaling with both resolution and settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of frame rate differences across resolutions in Hitman 2. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but shows signs of strain at 4K. The GPU's base clock of 2325 MHz and boost clock of 2512 MHz are relatively modest for the 50-series generation, yet the 6144 shading units and 192 tensor cores deliver substantial compute throughput. The FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS is consistent with the card's mid-range positioning in the GeForce 50 lineup.

The RTX 5070's rendering capabilities are reflected in its pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s. In Hitman 2, these specifications translate to strong performance at lower resolutions, with the GPU achieving 253 FPS at 1080p Low and 189 FPS at 1080p Medium. The card's 80 ROPs handle the final pixel output, and the measured frame rates suggest that this is not a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p. However, at 4K, the combination of higher pixel count and more complex shading causes the average FPS to drop below 90 even at Low settings, indicating that the GPU's raw fill rate becomes the limiting factor.

The memory subsystem plays a crucial role in the observed scaling. With 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the RTX 5070 can feed its shading units efficiently at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution demands significantly more data throughput. The 12 GB capacity is sufficient for Hitman 2's texture requirements, as the game does not appear to exceed this limit based on the consistent performance across settings. The GDDR7 memory operates at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed, and the 192-bit bus width is narrower than higher-tier cards, which explains the disproportionate performance drop from 1440p to 4K compared to the drop from 1080p to 1440p.

The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, includes 48 RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Hitman 2 does not heavily utilize ray tracing, so the RT cores have minimal impact on the measured frame rates. Instead, the card's traditional rasterization performance determines the results. The Passmark G3D score of 29137 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5077 provide context for the GPU's overall capability, and these synthetic results align with the in-game performance, placing the RTX 5070 in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its performance in Hitman 2 is characterized by ample headroom at all tested resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts to 5.60 GHz. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache, a hallmark of the X3D lineup, is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads that exhibit high cache locality. The CPU's 89.6 GB/s of dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth ensures that data can flow to the cores without bottlenecks.

The 9850X3D's synthetic benchmark scores provide insight into its gaming performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 22807 multicore and 2228 singlecore, while Passmark tests show 41318 in multithread and 4704 in singlethread. These scores indicate strong single-threaded performance, which is critical for Hitman 2's gameplay logic and AI systems. The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all processors and its average benchmark score of 58386 place it in elite company, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M and Intel Core i9-14900, both within 0.5% of its score.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 253 FPS, a figure that likely approaches the CPU's maximum frame rate ceiling for this game. The fact that the 1080p to 1440p scaling at Low settings shows a 36% drop indicates that the GPU begins to take over as the bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains consistent performance. The L3 cache's 96 MB capacity is particularly effective for Hitman 2's level design, which features large, detailed environments that benefit from cached data.

The CPU's power envelope of 120 W TDP and AM5 socket compatibility make it a straightforward choice for high-performance gaming systems. The 4 nm process node from TSMC, with 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die, contributes to its efficiency. In the context of Hitman 2, the CPU's performance is sufficient to prevent any processor-induced frame rate drops, even at 1080p High where the GPU delivers 143 FPS. The measured data shows no scenario where the CPU appears to limit performance, as the FPS scaling across resolutions follows the GPU's expected behavior. The CPU's single-thread score of 4704 in Passmark and 2228 in Cinebench R23 suggest that Hitman 2's primary game thread is well-served by the 9850X3D's high boost clock and efficient Zen 5 architecture.