Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the AMD Radeon 880M integrated graphics delivers a playable, though not high-refresh, experience in Hitman 2, but only at 1080p and with significant settings compromises. The data shows a system where the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck, as the CPU’s 16 cores and 32 threads are far more capable than the iGPU’s output. This combination lands at rank 2929 out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 2.4% of all configurations, which contextualizes its performance as entry-level for this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience balance between visual quality and frame rate is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 68 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset that clears the 60 FPS threshold, making it the sole option for smooth, responsive play. The step up to Medium at 1080p yields 51 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less fluid, while High drops to 38 FPS and Ultra falls to 28 FPS, both of which are suboptimal for a stealth game where quick reactions matter.

At 2560x1440, the situation degrades significantly. The Low preset averages 43 FPS, which is borderline, but Medium drops to 32 FPS and High to 24 FPS. None of these reach the smoothness of the 1080p Low setting, and the visual fidelity gain from a higher resolution does not compensate for the loss of frame rate consistency. At 4K, all settings are effectively unplayable, with Low averaging 23 FPS, Medium at 17 FPS, High at 13 FPS, and Ultra at 10 FPS. The recommendation is clear: if you want to play Hitman 2 with this combo, use 1080p Low for the best experience, and only consider 1080p Medium (51 FPS) if you can tolerate a less fluid frame rate for better visuals.

The data suggests that chasing higher settings is counterproductive. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 17 FPS (68 vs 51), which is a 25% performance hit for a modest visual upgrade. The gap between Medium and High is another 13 FPS (51 vs 38), and High to Ultra costs 10 FPS (38 vs 28). The scaling is steep, indicating that the Radeon 880M’s 768 shading units and 16 ROPs are quickly saturated. For a stealth game like Hitman 2, where observing NPC patterns and moving unseen is critical, the higher frame rate from Low settings provides a tangible gameplay advantage over the marginal visual improvements from Medium or High.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2929 out of 3001 places this system in the bottom percentile of tested configurations for Hitman 2. This is not surprising given the hardware pairing. The Radeon 880M is an integrated GPU with a 43rd percentile ranking against all GPUs, meaning it performs worse than 57% of discrete and integrated graphics solutions. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark data include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (0.1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (0.3% slower), the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (0.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M375X (1.3% slower). These are all older, low-end mobile parts, confirming that the 880M is positioned at the entry level.

The CPU, in contrast, is a powerhouse. The Ryzen 9 8945HX ranks in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76212. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% slower), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (0.4% slower), the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (0.4% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% faster). This CPU is in the same league as high-end desktop and workstation processors, yet it is paired with an iGPU that is over two generations behind in performance. The result is a system where the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU to catch up, which is reflected in the low combo rank.

The rank is not indicative of a broken combination; rather, it highlights the extreme imbalance. In Hitman 2, the game engine is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, so the CPU’s massive multi-threaded advantage (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713) provides no benefit when the GPU is the limiting factor. This combo would rank significantly higher in CPU-bound titles, but for Hitman 2, the 880M’s limited pixel and texture throughput (46.40 GPixel/s and 139.2 GTexel/s respectively) caps the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and clearly indicates a GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 68 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 23 FPS at 4K (a 66% drop from 1080p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count. The Radeon 880M’s memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning it shares system memory, which further hampers performance at higher resolutions where memory pressure increases.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 51 FPS at 1080p drops to 32 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop) and then to 17 FPS at 4K (a 67% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU’s raw fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the CPU or game logic. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.40 GHz and 64 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient for Hitman 2’s AI and physics calculations, but they cannot compensate for the GPU’s inability to process pixels quickly enough.

The data also shows that the FPS drop from 1440p to 4K is proportionally larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p. For example, at High settings, 1080p yields 38 FPS, 1440p yields 24 FPS (a 37% drop), and 4K yields 13 FPS (a 46% drop from 1440p). This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that runs out of memory bandwidth. The system is clearly not designed for 4K gaming, and even 1440p should be considered a stretch, with only the Low preset (43 FPS) approaching playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range is available. The Low preset averages 68 FPS, which is the only playable option. Medium averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS, indicating some frame time inconsistency. High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. None of the higher presets provide a consistently smooth experience, and the frame rate variance at Medium suggests that even that setting can stutter in busy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 43 FPS, which is borderline playable but not ideal for a stealth game where precision timing is needed. Medium averages 32 FPS, with a minimum of 28 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High averages 24 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium here costs 11 FPS, and the visual difference is unlikely to be worth the performance hit. The 1440p resolution is only viable on Low, and even then, the frame rate is below the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, all settings are below playable thresholds. Low averages 23 FPS, Medium averages 17 FPS (with a minimum of 15 FPS and a maximum of 20 FPS), High averages 13 FPS, and Ultra averages 10 FPS. These numbers are essentially slideshows and confirm that 4K is not a viable option for this hardware. The Medium preset at 4K has the only recorded min/max values (15-20 FPS), which shows a tight but unplayable range.

The data shows a consistent pattern: every resolution halving roughly doubles or triples the frame rate, but the absolute numbers remain low. The 880M’s FP32 performance of 4.454 TFLOPS is the theoretical peak, and Hitman 2’s engine is able to utilize a fraction of that at best. For a 2018 game, the performance is surprisingly poor, indicating that the iGPU is simply not designed for this workload at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hitman 2 at 60 FPS?

A: Only at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which averages 68 FPS. All other settings and resolutions fall below 60 FPS, with 1080p Medium averaging 51 FPS and 1440p Low averaging 43 FPS.

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

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution with a playable frame rate across multiple settings. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (43 FPS) is borderline, and 3840x2160 is unplayable at all settings, with the highest average being 23 FPS on Low.

Q: How does the Radeon 880M compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The 880M is 0.1% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX, 0.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce MX330, 0.3% faster than the AMD Radeon HD 8870M, and 1.3% faster than the AMD Radeon R9 M375X. These are all low-end mobile parts from previous generations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 95th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 43rd percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a pattern consistent with GPU and memory bandwidth limits, not CPU processing power.

Q: What is the frame rate variance at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 51 FPS with a range of 43 to 58 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 32 FPS with a range of 28 to 37 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 17 FPS with a range of 15 to 20 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s high core count help in Hitman 2?

A: No. The Ryzen 9 8945HX has 16 cores and 32 threads, but Hitman 2 is not heavily multi-threaded at the resolution and settings where this combo is playable. The GPU’s performance ceiling is reached long before the CPU’s multi-core potential is utilized, as evidenced by the low combo rank of 2929 out of 3001.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Dragon Range. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. It features 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache, totaling 13,140 million transistors on a 5 nm TSMC process. Its multi-threaded performance is exceptional, as shown by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and a Passmark multithread score of 51405. In single-threaded workloads, it scores 6030 in Cinebench R23 and 3907 in Passmark single-thread tests.

Despite this compute power, the CPU’s role in Hitman 2 with this GPU is largely passive. The game’s frame rate is dictated by the Radeon 880M’s output, which is limited by its 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The CPU’s high boost clock ensures that it never becomes a bottleneck, as it can feed the GPU with draw calls and AI updates faster than the GPU can render frames. The data shows that the combo ranks at 2929 out of 3001, which is not a reflection of the CPU’s capability but rather the GPU’s constraint.

The CPU’s architecture and cache hierarchy are well-suited for gaming, but this specific title does not leverage the full potential of the 8945HX. At 1080p Low, the CPU is likely operating well below its maximum throughput, as the GPU is the limiting factor. The 64 MB of L3 cache helps with game logic and asset streaming, but Hitman 2’s levels are not so large that this becomes a differentiator. In practical terms, the CPU would perform identically with a much faster discrete GPU, and the current pairing leaves significant performance on the table. For this combo, the CPU is a high-end component wasted on an entry-level iGPU, and the benchmark results reflect that imbalance.