Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the Intel Arc B570 produces a combo that ranks in the lower tier of tested configurations for Hitman 2, landing at position 2399 out of 3001 tested combos. This ranking places it in the 21st percentile of all tested combos, indicating that while the hardware is capable, it does not deliver top-tier performance in this specific title. The data shows a configuration that is best suited for 1080p gaming, with playable performance at higher resolutions only when settings are reduced. The bottleneck analysis reveals a system where the CPU's substantial multi-threading capabilities are not fully utilized by this game, leaving the GPU as the primary constraint on frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2399 out of 3001 places it firmly in the bottom third of all tested hardware pairings for Hitman 2. This is a surprisingly low position given the components involved. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a high-end desktop processor with an average benchmark score of 41376, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. The Intel Arc B570, while not flagship, is a capable mid-range GPU with an average benchmark score of 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Yet, when combined in this game, the system underperforms relative to what the component-level benchmarks suggest.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H and the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H, with scores of 41263 and 41215 respectively. The Ryzen 9 5900X leads these by a razor-thin margin of 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. It also beats the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 by 0.4%. The only rival it trails is the Intel Core i7-14650HX, which scores 41576, a 0.5% difference. This shows the CPU is competitive with modern mobile chips, but these are all relatively similar in performance. The data indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor here.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B570's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, with the Intel card leading by a mere 0.1%. It also outperforms the Intel Arc A750 by 0.1% and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by 0.5%, while trailing the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M by 0.4%. These are tight margins, suggesting the B570 is performing at a level consistent with its silicon. However, the game results show a different story. The low combo rank suggests that Hitman 2's engine is not well-optimized for this particular hardware pairing, or that the GPU's architecture struggles with the game's rendering requirements.

The benchmark results indicate a significant scale of performance variance across settings. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 18 FPS, which is unplayable. This drops to 24 FPS at High, still below acceptable thresholds. The GPU clearly cannot handle the load at this resolution. The situation improves dramatically at 1440p, where Low settings yield 79 FPS and Medium yields 59 FPS. At 1080p, the system is much more capable, with Low settings producing 123 FPS and Medium producing 93 FPS. This pattern shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound, with the CPU having plenty of headroom to spare.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear sweet spot for this combo at 1080p with Medium settings. This configuration delivers an average FPS of 93, with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 106. This is the only setting in the dataset that provides both a high average frame rate and a minimum frame rate that stays well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset at 1080p achieves 70 FPS, which is also playable but offers a lower margin of safety. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 52 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience.

For users with 1440p monitors, the Medium preset is the best option. It delivers an average of 59 FPS, with a minimum of 50 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. This is on the edge of playability, but the minimum frame rate suggests occasional dips below 60 FPS. The Low preset at 1440p is smoother, at 79 FPS, but sacrifices visual fidelity. The High preset at 1440p produces 45 FPS, which is a noticeable drop in smoothness. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not a viable option, with an average of 33 FPS.

At 4K resolution, the data indicates this combo is not suited for the game. The Medium preset achieves an average of 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 36 FPS. This is below the playable threshold. The Low preset is the only one that approaches acceptability, with an average of 42 FPS, but this still falls short of a smooth experience. The High and Ultra presets are not viable, with averages of 24 FPS and 18 FPS respectively. The recommendation is clear: stick to 1080p with Medium settings for the best balance of performance and visual quality. The 1440p Medium preset is a fallback for those who prioritize resolution over frame rate stability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Hitman 2?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 with Medium settings is the optimal configuration, achieving an average FPS of 93 with a minimum of 79 FPS. This is the only tested preset that provides a high average frame rate and a minimum frame rate comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Hitman 2?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only achieves an average FPS of 42, which is below the standard for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset drops to 32 FPS, and High and Ultra are not playable at 24 FPS and 18 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the combo's performance at 1440p compare to 1080p?

A: The performance drops significantly when moving from 1080p to 1440p. At 1080p Medium, the average is 93 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 59 FPS, a 34 FPS reduction. The minimum FPS also drops from 79 to 50, indicating less consistent frame pacing.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The CPU is a high-end 12-core processor with an average benchmark score in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU's performance at 4K, where it drops to 18 FPS at Ultra, shows it cannot keep up with the game's demands at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average FPS of 123, while the Ultra preset achieves an average FPS of 52. This represents a 71 FPS difference, or a 57.7% reduction in average frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest visual quality preset.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, with an average score of 20534. The Intel card leads by 0.1%. It also leads the Intel Arc A750 by 0.1% and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by 0.5%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. The data is measured, not estimated, and provides a reliable basis for analysis.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the system struggles. The Ultra preset yields an average FPS of 18, which is a slideshow. The High preset improves to 24 FPS, still unplayable. The Medium preset provides an average of 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 36 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with min/max data, showing a consistent but low performance level. The Low preset is the most playable at this resolution, with an average of 42 FPS. However, this is still below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. The data shows a clear scaling pattern: as settings are reduced from Ultra to Low, the average FPS increases from 18 to 42, a 133% improvement.

Moving down to 2560x1440, the performance becomes more acceptable. The Ultra preset averages 33 FPS, which is poor. The High preset averages 45 FPS, a significant improvement over 4K but still not ideal. The Medium preset is the standout at this resolution, with an average of 59 FPS, a minimum of 50 FPS, and a maximum of 68 FPS. This is a playable experience, though the minimum frame rate is close to the edge. The Low preset delivers 79 FPS, providing a smooth experience but with reduced visual quality. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 1440p shows an increase from 33 FPS to 79 FPS, a 139% improvement.

At 1920x1080, the combo reaches its full potential. The Ultra preset averages 52 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The High preset achieves 70 FPS, providing a smooth experience. The Medium preset is the best balance, with an average of 93 FPS, a minimum of 79 FPS, and a maximum of 106 FPS. This is the only preset in the entire dataset where the minimum FPS is above 60. The Low preset is extremely performant, with an average of 123 FPS. The scaling from Ultra to Low at 1080p is the most dramatic, with an increase from 52 FPS to 123 FPS, a 136.5% improvement. The data clearly shows that the system is best utilized at this resolution.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a discrete GPU based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has a die size of 272 mm² and contains 19,600 million transistors. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It also includes 18 ray tracing cores. The card operates with a base clock of 2500 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, indicating a fixed clock speed. The memory subsystem is comprised of 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 14195 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 83514. Its average benchmark score is 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which it leads by 0.1%. It also leads the Intel Arc A750 by 0.1%. These scores indicate a mid-range GPU that is competitive with other options in its class.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is clearly the limiting factor. The dramatic drop in performance from 1080p to 4K highlights its memory bandwidth and compute limitations. At 1080p, the GPU is able to maintain high frame rates at lower settings, but as the resolution and settings increase, the frame rates plummet. The data shows that the GPU's 10 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this game at the tested settings, as memory is not mentioned as a constraint. The fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz means the card does not have dynamic boost headroom, which could explain its performance profile. The GPU's pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s. These figures are low for modern standards and explain the poor performance at 4K. The FP32 performance of 11.52 TFLOPS is also a key indicator of its compute limits.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a desktop processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture with the Vermeer codename. It is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The CPU has 12 cores and 24 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. It has a total L3 cache of 64 MB, with 512 KB of L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus, with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. Its TDP is 105 W.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks show it is a powerful processor. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16262 and a single-core score of 1527. Its Passmark multithread score is 39002, and its single-thread score is 3469. The average benchmark score is 41376, placing it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival is the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H, which it leads by 0.3%. It trails the Intel Core i7-14650HX by 0.5%. These results show a high-performance CPU that is well-suited for multi-threaded workloads.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is less critical than the GPU. The game is not heavily multi-threaded, as evidenced by the performance scaling. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample processing power, but the game does not appear to use them all effectively. The data shows that the system's frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU. The CPU's high single-thread performance, as indicated by its Passmark single-thread score of 3469, is more relevant for this game, but it is not the bottleneck. The CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache is a large pool that helps with game data, but it is not enough to overcome the GPU's limitations. The CPU's boost clock of 4.80 GHz is high, but the game's performance is not tied to this metric. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU has significant headroom in this title, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities, not by the CPU's processing speed.