Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is a stealth game that scales across a wide range of hardware, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with the Intel Arc B580 reveals a combination that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher settings. The CPU provides ample processing power with 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, and its performance percentile of 90 against all CPUs confirms its high standing. The Arc B580, while capable, sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, which foreshadows the frame rate limits observed in the measured rows. This pairing produces a playable experience at lower resolutions and settings, but it struggles to maintain smooth performance under maximum graphical loads, particularly at 4K resolution.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the Ryzen 9 generation, built on the Zen 3 architecture (codename Vermeer) using a 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, and it carries a TDP of 105 W. The processor has a substantial 64 MB of L3 cache, which is often beneficial for gaming performance by reducing memory latency. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU shows strong multi-threaded capabilities, scoring 33,150 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 39,002 in Passmark multithread, while single-thread performance is also solid with scores of 4,680 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3,469 in Passmark single thread. Its average benchmark score of 39,453 places it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4245P and 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13700F, while it trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS by 0.7% and the Intel Core i7-13700 by 1%.

In the context of Hitman 2, this level of CPU performance means the processor is unlikely to be the primary bottleneck. Hitman 2 is known for being somewhat CPU-intensive in certain scenes, but the Ryzen 9 5900X has far more headroom than the Arc B580 can utilize. The evidence appears in the frame rate scaling across resolutions: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 139.7 FPS, but this number drops significantly as the resolution or settings increase. The data suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is already limiting the output, as the CPU could theoretically push much higher frame rates given its benchmark scores. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,075 and the max-thread score of 10,075 indicate that the CPU has plenty of parallel processing power, but the game’s engine at these settings does not appear to be demanding enough to engage all 12 cores fully. Instead, the results point to a system where the CPU is waiting on the GPU to render frames, a common scenario when pairing a high-end processor with a mid-range graphics card.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Examining the measured FPS rows, the most balanced experience appears to be at 1080p with Medium settings, which produces an average of 103.7 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and shows a significant jump from the High preset’s 79.7 FPS. The Low preset at 1080p yields 139.7 FPS, but the visual quality trade-off may not be worth the extra 36 FPS when Medium already offers a comfortable margin. At 1440p, the Medium setting drops to 68.9 FPS, which is still playable, but the High setting at 53.7 FPS begins to approach the edge of acceptability for a stealth game where precision matters. The Ultra preset is clearly too demanding for this combo, producing only 58.9 FPS at 1080p and 35.8 FPS at 1440p, which would likely lead to noticeable stutter during fast camera movements.

The data indicates that sticking to Medium is the safest choice for a consistent experience, as it provides a 33% improvement over High at 1080p and a 28% improvement at 1440p. For players who prioritize visual fidelity, High at 1440p is the upper limit of what this system can deliver at a reasonable frame rate. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with even Low settings only reaching 48.3 FPS, so 4K gaming is not recommended with this configuration. The recommendation is to use Medium at 1080p for the best combination of fluidity and image quality, or High at 1440p if the player has a monitor that supports adaptive sync and can tolerate occasional drops below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate scaling across resolutions clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting factor in this system. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the average FPS drops from 79.7 to 53.7, a reduction of approximately 33%. Going further to 4K at High settings, the FPS collapses to 29.2, which is a 63% drop from the 1080p figure. This pattern of diminishing returns at higher resolutions is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the pixel count increases dramatically and puts more strain on the graphics card’s rendering units. The Arc B580 has 2,560 shading units and a boost clock of 2670 MHz, which gives it a peak FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS, but this is not enough to handle 4K High settings in Hitman 2.

The trend is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 58.9, but this falls to 35.8 at 1440p and a mere 20.3 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling, as it suggests the GPU is completely overwhelmed, likely due to the combination of high pixel count and intensive shader effects. In contrast, the CPU’s performance is relatively constant across resolutions, since its workload is more tied to game logic and draw calls rather than pixel output. This is supported by the fact that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is from 139.7 to 48.3, which is a 65% reduction, nearly identical to the High setting drop. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not drop so steeply with resolution, because the CPU’s workload would remain similar while the GPU’s load increases. Instead, the data shows that the Arc B580 is the constraining component, and the Ryzen 9 5900X’s performance is largely irrelevant to the frame rates observed in this game.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1,382nd out of 1,795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the lower portion of the rankings, around the 23rd percentile, which is a surprising result given the CPU’s strong performance. The ranking suggests that while the processor is powerful, the overall system performance is dragged down by the GPU’s limitations. The rank of 1,382 is not a measure of absolute performance, but rather a comparison against all other CPU-GPU pairings tested in this game. Given that the Arc B580’s average benchmark score of 23,021 is within 0.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 and 1.3% ahead of the RTX 4060 Mobile, the GPU is clearly a mid-range part. However, the combo rank indicates that many other combinations with similar or even less powerful CPUs achieve better frame rates, likely because they are paired with stronger graphics cards.

This rank also implies that the Ryzen 9 5900X is not being fully utilized in this scenario. The CPU’s percentile of 90 against all CPUs means it outperforms 90% of processors, but in this specific game, it is paired with a GPU that ranks at the 66th percentile. The disparity between these two percentiles highlights a system imbalance. For a game like Hitman 2, which is not extremely CPU-demanding, the GPU is the deciding factor, and the combo rank reflects that. If the same CPU were paired with a higher-tier GPU, the rank would likely improve dramatically, but with the Arc B580, the system is firmly in the lower-middle tier of measured results. This data suggests that users considering this combo should not expect top-tier performance in this title, despite the CPU’s pedigree.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B580 is the primary determinant of the frame rates seen in these measurements. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This is a generous amount of VRAM for a game released in 2018, and it is unlikely to be a limiting factor at 1080p or 1440p, even at Ultra settings. The GPU’s memory clock is 2375 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective, and its base and boost clocks are both set at 2670 MHz. The architecture is Xe2-HPG, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, and it includes 20 ray tracing cores, though Hitman 2 is not a ray tracing title, so these cores are probably not heavily utilized.

The GPU’s performance in Hitman 2 is consistent with its benchmark scores. Its Passmark G3D score of 15,748 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 109,672 indicate a solid mid-range graphics card. The measured FPS at 1080p Medium of 103.7 FPS is respectable, but the drop to 20.3 FPS at 4K Ultra shows the GPU’s limits. The 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as Hitman 2’s textures are not particularly demanding by modern standards. Instead, the limiting factor is the GPU’s raw compute power. The FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at lower settings, but it is insufficient for the higher pixel counts and more complex shading at 4K Ultra. The GPU’s pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are also moderate, and they contribute to the performance degradation at higher resolutions. The data shows a clear pattern: the Arc B580 is a capable 1080p and entry-level 1440p card, but it is not designed for 4K gaming, especially at high quality presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average FPS of 139.7 at Low settings, 103.7 at Medium, 79.7 at High, and 58.9 at Ultra. This is the only resolution where all settings remain above 50 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 36 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 24 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 20.8 FPS. This suggests that each step up in settings has a diminishing impact on frame rate, but the Ultra preset still costs a significant 24% performance drop from High. At 2560x1440, the average FPS are 88.7 at Low, 68.9 at Medium, 53.7 at High, and 35.8 at Ultra. The Low setting at 1440p is the only one that remains above 60 FPS, and the Ultra setting drops below 40 FPS, which is likely to be a stuttery experience. At 3840x2160, the results are 48.3 at Low, 38.1 at Medium, 29.2 at High, and 20.3 at Ultra. None of these are playable for a smooth experience, and the Ultra setting at 4K is effectively a slideshow. The data shows that the system is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being marginal at Medium settings, and 4K being out of the question for anything beyond Low.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving an average of 103.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. This is significantly higher than the 79.7 FPS on High settings and only 36 FPS below the Low setting’s 139.7 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: No, the measurements show that at 3840x2160, even Low settings only reach 48.3 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 20.3 FPS. These results are below the playable threshold for most users, indicating the GPU is not powerful enough for 4K in this game.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23,021, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon 760M, 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA P106-100, and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile. It is 0.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X a bottleneck for the Arc B580 in this game?

A: No, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 5900X ranks at the 90th percentile among all CPUs, and its strong multi-threaded scores suggest it has ample headroom. The frame rate drops across resolutions indicate the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count.

Q: What is the combo’s rank compared to all other tested combinations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + Intel Arc B580 combo ranks 1,382nd out of 1,795 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the lower third of results, reflecting the GPU’s mid-range performance despite the CPU’s high ranking.

Q: What are the CPU’s strongest benchmark results?

A: The CPU’s highest scores include 33,150 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 39,002 in Passmark multithread, and 11,877 in Geekbench multi-core. Its single-thread performance is also strong, with 4,680 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3,469 in Passmark single thread.