Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + AMD Radeon RX 7600

The data for Hitman 2 with the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 tells a clear story: this is a combination that excels at 1080p and remains playable at 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth framerates at 4K, particularly at higher settings. The measured results reveal a system where the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and mid-range positioning become the deciding factors as resolution climbs, while the 12-core, 24-thread CPU provides ample headroom that never appears to be the bottleneck in this stealth title.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU as the dominant limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 147.6 at 1920x1080 to 95.3 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 52.3 FPS, and then to 51.1 at 3840x2160, which is barely a third of the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior: the RX 7600's rendering throughput simply cannot keep pace with the fourfold increase in pixel count from 1080p to 4K.

The pattern intensifies at higher settings. At Ultra, the average FPS drops from 63.4 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p, then collapses to 21.1 at 4K. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is roughly 67%, compared to a 65% loss at Low, indicating that the combination of resolution and settings compound the GPU's workload. Interestingly, the gap between Medium and High at each resolution is relatively consistent, suggesting that the scaling penalty is more about raw pixel throughput than specific setting overhead.

What does this imply for the limiting component? The CPU's 3DMark scores, including a single-thread score of 941 and a max-thread score of 10075, suggest it has far more compute headroom than the GPU can utilize at 4K. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system delivers only 21.1 FPS, a figure that points squarely at the RX 7600's 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance as the ceiling, not the Ryzen 9 5900X's processing capabilities.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600's specifications directly explain the measured results. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, the card has enough memory capacity for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes constrained at 4K, especially with High and Ultra settings that demand more texture data. The 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs are mid-range figures that align with the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Clock speeds play a notable role: the base clock of 1720 MHz, game clock of 2250 MHz, and boost clock of 2655 MHz are relatively high for the architecture, yet the card still falls to 28.1 FPS at 4K High. The 32 RT cores are present but Hitman 2 does not heavily utilize ray tracing, so their impact on these results is minimal. The pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits that the measured FPS numbers reflect.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RX 7600 sits remarkably close to the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with a deltaPct of 0.6, meaning the XT version scores only slightly higher in synthetic benchmarks. The RX 7600 also trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile by only 1.3% and the Intel Arc B570 by 1.5% in average benchmark scores, yet in Hitman 2, the 8 GB VRAM capacity appears to be a limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the precipitous drop to 21.1 FPS at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 5900X and RX 7600 ranks 1198 out of 1795 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the 33rd percentile of all system pairings. This rank is notably lower than what the CPU's own percentile might suggest — the Ryzen 9 5900X sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 39453, while the GPU's 63rd percentile and average score of 20258 indicate a mid-tier graphics component.

This discrepancy between CPU and GPU rankings is the key insight. The combo rank of 1198/1795 implies that many systems with weaker processors but stronger graphics cards outperform this pairing in Hitman 2. The data supports this: the CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4245P (deltaPct 0.2), AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS (deltaPct -0.7), Intel Core i7-13700F (deltaPct 0.9), and Intel Core i7-13700 (deltaPct -1), all of which have comparable CPU performance. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU.

The 5900X's synthetic benchmarks are impressive — Cinebench R23 multicore score of 33150, Geekbench multicore of 11877, and Passmark multithread of 39002 — but these numbers do not translate to Hitman 2 framerates when the GPU cannot render fast enough. The combo rank suggests that for this specific game, the CPU's substantial compute resources are underutilized, and the system's overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU's 4K limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers strong performance across all settings. Low settings produce 147.6 FPS average, Medium drops to 111.3, High reaches 83.2, and Ultra maintains a respectable 63.4 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p gaming is smooth even at the highest preset, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 84.2 FPS — a significant gap that shows how much headroom exists at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 95.3 FPS at Low, 73.2 at Medium, 50.5 at High, and 39 at Ultra. The 1440p results show a more compressed range: the spread between Low and Ultra is 56.3 FPS, smaller than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is starting to become the constraint. High and Ultra settings remain playable, though Ultra's 39 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. Low settings yield 51.1 FPS, Medium drops to 39.8, High falls to 28.1, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.1 FPS. The 4K results are the clearest evidence of GPU limitation: even Low settings cannot maintain 60 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable. The relative performance at 4K shows that the RX 7600's 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the demands of Hitman 2 at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 63.4 FPS provide the best balance of visual quality and smoothness, as the framerate remains above the 60 FPS threshold. There is no need to compromise on settings at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, High settings at 50.5 FPS represent the sweet spot, offering better visual fidelity than Medium's 73.2 FPS while staying above 30 FPS and approaching playable territory. Ultra at 39 FPS may be acceptable for slower stealth gameplay, but High is the measured recommendation for consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra settings entirely, as 21.1 FPS is not viable. Low settings at 51.1 FPS is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, though it sacrifices visual quality. Medium at 39.8 FPS is possible but marginal. The measured results indicate that 4K is not this combination's strength, and users should either drop to 1440p or accept Low settings if 4K is mandatory.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, with its 12 cores and 24 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, provides substantial processing power that appears more than sufficient for Hitman 2. The base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.80 GHz, combined with 64 MB of L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 941 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4680 indicate excellent per-core performance for this game.

The 90th percentile ranking among all CPUs and average benchmark score of 39453 place the 5900X well above the GPU's 63rd percentile. In Hitman 2, where the CPU's nearest rivals — the AMD EPYC 4245P, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS, Intel Core i7-13700F, and Intel Core i7-13700 — all score within 1% of the 5900X, the processor is clearly not the limiting factor. The 24 threads and 8,300 million transistors on a 7 nm process provide far more compute than this stealth game requires.

The CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the FPS scaling: at 1080p Low, 147.6 FPS suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, but the drop to 21.1 FPS at 4K Ultra shows that even a top-tier 12-core processor cannot overcome GPU constraints. The data implies that for Hitman 2, the Ryzen 9 5900X is overkill — a system with fewer cores but a stronger GPU would likely rank higher in the combo list.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the strongest resolution, with all settings above 60 FPS, including 63.4 FPS at Ultra. At 2560x1440, High settings at 50.5 FPS remain playable, while 4K drops below 30 FPS at High and Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 7600 trails the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT by 0.6%, sits 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, and is 1.5% behind the Intel Arc B570 in average benchmark scores.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X a bottleneck for the RX 7600 in this game?

A: No. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking and 3DMark max-thread score of 10075 far exceed the GPU's 63rd percentile. The FPS drops at higher resolutions align with GPU limitations, not CPU constraints.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 111.3, providing a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The combination ranks 1198 out of 1795 total combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the lower third of tested systems, despite the CPU's strong individual performance.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this setup?

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings achieve over 50 FPS at 51.1. Medium settings drop to 39.8, High to 28.1, and Ultra to 21.1, making 4K playable only at Low settings or lower resolutions.