Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the AMD Radeon 760M integrated graphics produces a severely constrained gaming experience in Hitman 2. The data shows this combination ranks 2990th out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the bottom fraction of a percent of all systems tested. The integrated GPU is the dominant limiting factor across every resolution and setting, with the powerful 16-core processor unable to compensate for the graphics subsystem's fundamental throughput limitations. This analysis walks through the measured frame rates, the scaling behavior between resolutions, and the specific roles each component plays in producing these results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a stark and predictable collapse as resolution increases, confirming that the Radeon 760M is the bottleneck at every measured point. At 1080p with Low settings, the system manages an average of 49 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 32 FPS, a reduction of approximately 35%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 17 FPS, which represents a 65% loss from the 1080p baseline. This pattern of degradation is consistent with a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth long before the CPU becomes relevant.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings shows similar proportional losses. The 1080p Medium average of 37 FPS drops to 24 FPS at 1440p Medium, a decline of about 35% that mirrors the Low preset behavior. At High settings, the drop is slightly steeper: 28 FPS at 1080p falls to 18 FPS at 1440p, a 36% reduction. The consistency of these percentages across different presets indicates that the GPU's workload scales almost linearly with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a fill-rate or bandwidth-limited part rather than a geometry or shader-limited one.

The 4K results are uniformly unplayable. The best 4K average is 17 FPS at Low settings, while High manages only 10 FPS, Medium 13 FPS, and Ultra falls to 7 FPS. The difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings is particularly telling: 18 FPS drops to 10 FPS, a 44% reduction that roughly corresponds to the 2.25x pixel count increase between those resolutions. This near-linear scaling suggests that the Radeon 760M has no headroom whatsoever and every additional pixel directly subtracts from the frame rate.

What these numbers indicate about the limiting component is unambiguous. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, with its 16 cores and boost clock up to 5.40 GHz, is capable of far more than 49 FPS in this game. The fact that frame rates collapse so predictably with resolution increases proves the GPU is saturated even at 1080p Low. The measured FPS data shows no scenario where the CPU appears to be the constraint, as even the highest frame rate of 49 FPS is well within the capabilities of a modern flagship mobile processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate this combo achieves in Hitman 2?

A: The highest measured average is 49 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration that approaches playable territory.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The combination ranks 2990th out of 3001 total tested combos, placing it in the bottom 0.4% of all systems tested for Hitman 2.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this game?

A: The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions. Frame rates scale almost linearly with pixel count, dropping from 49 FPS at 1080p Low to 17 FPS at 4K Low, which is characteristic of a graphics-limited workload.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low averages 49 FPS while Ultra averages only 21 FPS. This represents a 57% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Are there any resolution and setting combinations that achieve 60 FPS?

A: No. The maximum measured average is 49 FPS at 1080p Low. Every other configuration falls below 40 FPS, with most 1440p and 4K configurations falling well below 30 FPS.

Q: How does the Radeon 760M compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Radeon 760M scores 5310 in Passmark G3D, which is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6400 and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M, but 0.5% behind the NVIDIA Quadro P2000. These near-identical scores indicate performance parity with those older discrete GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rate data, the only viable configuration for actual gameplay is 1080p with Low settings, which produces an average of 49 FPS. This is the single combination that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, though it still falls short. At 1080p Medium, the average drops to 37 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth, and the minimum frame rate of 31 FPS indicates occasional dips into the low 30s. For users who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Medium offers a compromise at 37 FPS average, but the data suggests this comes with stutter risk.

The High and Ultra presets are not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p High, the average falls to 28 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it drops to 21 FPS. Both of these are below the 30 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for acceptable motion clarity. At 1440p and 4K, every preset produces average frame rates below 32 FPS, with the majority falling below 20 FPS. The 1440p Low setting at 32 FPS is the only non-1080p configuration that reaches the low end of playability, but it still suffers from the same minimum frame rate concerns as 1080p Medium.

The data suggests that users should treat this system as a 1080p-only gaming platform for Hitman 2. The scaling from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 12 FPS on average (from 49 to 37), which is a substantial 24% reduction. The jump from Medium to High costs another 9 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 7 more. Each step up in quality yields diminishing visual returns while extracting significant frame rate penalties. For the best experience per the measured rows, 1080p Low is the clear choice, with 1080p Medium as a secondary option for users who can tolerate lower frame rates in exchange for improved visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 8945HX and Radeon 760M ranks 2990th out of 3001 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 0.4% of all systems. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limited capabilities rather than any deficiency in the CPU. The Radeon 760M sits at the 35th percentile among all GPUs, meaning 65% of tested graphics cards perform better in synthetic benchmarks. The Ryzen 9 8945HX, by contrast, sits at the 95th percentile among all CPUs, placing it in the top 5% of processors.

The juxtaposition of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU creates a profoundly unbalanced system for gaming. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% ahead), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (0.4% behind), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (0.4% behind). These are all high-end processors that would typically be paired with discrete graphics cards. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6400 (0.3% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (0.3% ahead), both of which are entry-level or legacy parts.

The rank of 2990 out of 3001 means that only 11 tested combinations perform worse in Hitman 2. This places the combo in the company of systems that likely pair similarly weak integrated or entry-level GPUs with various processors. The data indicates that the CPU's substantial compute resources provide no benefit in this game because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough to utilize them. The 16-core processor with 32 threads is effectively idle while the integrated GPU struggles to maintain 20 FPS at higher settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 64 MB of L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and a single-core score of 6030, along with a Passmark multithread score of 51405. These results place it at the 95th percentile among all CPUs, indicating exceptional multi-threaded performance.

However, in Hitman 2, the CPU's role is minimal due to the GPU bottleneck. The game is not particularly demanding on CPU resources at the frame rates this system produces. The highest measured average of 49 FPS at 1080p Low is well within the capability of even a mid-range processor, let alone a flagship 16-core part. The CPU's single-thread performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030, is more than sufficient for the game's simulation and AI workloads, which typically rely on a few threads rather than the full 32-thread complement.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 is shared with the integrated GPU. Since the Radeon 760M uses system memory for its frame buffer, the CPU and GPU compete for the same memory bandwidth. However, the fact that frame rates scale so predictably with resolution suggests that memory bandwidth is not the primary constraint; rather, it is the GPU's raw compute throughput that limits performance. The CPU's cache hierarchy, including 1 MB of L2 per core and 64 MB of L3, is sufficient for the game's data working set.

The benchmark data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution or setting. Even at 4K Ultra with an average of 7 FPS, the CPU is unlikely to be waiting on game logic; it is simply waiting for the GPU to deliver frames. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3907 and data encryption score of 40836 indicate strong per-core performance, which would be relevant if the game were CPU-bound, but the measured FPS data clearly shows this is not the case. The CPU's role in this combo is to provide a capable platform that is entirely wasted on the GPU's limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset covers four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 49 FPS, Medium averages 37 FPS with a minimum of 31 and maximum of 42, High averages 28 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS. This represents a drop of 28 FPS from Low to Ultra, or approximately 57% of the Low preset's frame rate. The Medium preset's minimum of 31 FPS is notable because it shows that even at lower settings, the system can dip below the 30 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops substantially. Low averages 32 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS with a minimum of 20 and maximum of 27, High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each preset is consistent, with Low losing 17 FPS, Medium losing 13 FPS, High losing 10 FPS, and Ultra losing 8 FPS. The proportional losses range from 35% to 38%, indicating uniform scaling behavior across presets.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low averages 17 FPS, Medium averages 13 FPS with a minimum of 11 and maximum of 14, High averages 10 FPS, and Ultra averages 7 FPS. The 4K Medium preset's maximum of 14 FPS is lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 21 FPS, illustrating the severe impact of resolution on this GPU. The total range across all 12 measured configurations is from 7 FPS (4K Ultra) to 49 FPS (1080p Low), a span of 42 FPS that demonstrates the GPU's sensitivity to both resolution and quality settings.

The minimum and maximum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 31 to 42 FPS, a spread of 11 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range narrows to 20 to 27 FPS, a spread of 7 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 11 to 14 FPS, a spread of just 3 FPS. This tightening of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated as pixel count increases, reducing the variance that comes from less demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 760M is an integrated graphics processor based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units, with a boost clock of 2599 MHz. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 5.323 TFLOPS, which is modest for modern gaming. It has a Passmark G3D score of 5310, placing it at the 35th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6400 (0.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (0.3% faster), both of which are entry-level discrete parts.

In Hitman 2, the GPU is the sole determinant of performance. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is saturated at even the lowest resolution and settings, as evidenced by the linear scaling with resolution. The GPU's 512 shading units are insufficient for the game's pixel shader workload at 1080p, let alone higher resolutions. The 16 ROPs limit fill rate, which explains why the frame rate drops so dramatically as resolution increases. The texture rate of 83.17 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 41.58 GPixel/s are both modest figures that constrain the GPU's ability to process the game's visual elements.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which in this case is the CPU's 83.2 GB/s dual-channel bandwidth. This shared arrangement means the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access, though the benchmark data suggests that the GPU's compute limitations are more significant than memory bandwidth constraints. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) indicates it can handle modern rendering features, but the raw performance is too low to utilize them effectively in this game.

The GPU's 4 nm process node and 25,390 million transistors are indicative of a modern, efficient design, but efficiency does not translate to performance in this context. The boost clock of 2599 MHz is relatively high for an integrated GPU, yet the small number of execution units limits overall throughput. The GPU's Passmark DirectX 11 score of 52 and DirectX 12 score of 25 are telling, as these are extremely low numbers that align with the measured FPS results. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 400 further confirms that this is a part designed for basic graphics tasks, not gaming at acceptable frame rates.