Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a peculiar Hitman 2 experience: at 1080p and 1440p this combo is exceptionally fast, but at 4K it falls behind expectations. The data shows a 16-core, 32-thread Zen 4 mobile processor driving a 24 GB Ada Lovelace flagship, yet the measured frame rates at 3840x2160 suggest a bottleneck that is not present at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this particular pairing ranks against the 3,001 other tested combinations.

FAQ

Q: What is the best measured average FPS for this combo in Hitman 2?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 238 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest average is 34 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much faster is the CPU than its closest rival?

A: The Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 76,212 on average benchmark, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76,155) and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75,779).

Q: Is the RTX 4090 here the same as the desktop version?

A: No, this is the mobile implementation. It has 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz and a TDP of 450 W.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems?

A: This CPU-GPU combination ranks 652nd out of 3,001 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the top 22% of all tested configurations.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,713 and PassMark multi-thread score of 51,405 indicate ample headroom, while the GPU's PassMark G3D score of 38,194 suggests it is the component being pushed to its limits at high frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest GPU rival?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 60,347, essentially tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in this configuration carries 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus, delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective), while the GPU core operates at a 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost. These specifications are substantial for a mobile part, and the data indicates the GPU is the dominant factor in Hitman 2's frame rates at most settings.

In Hitman 2, the RTX 4090's VRAM allocation is more than sufficient. The game is not VRAM-hungry by modern standards, and the 24 GB pool is far beyond what this title requires. The bandwidth, however, plays a more significant role. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 34 FPS average, which is surprisingly low for a flagship GPU. This suggests that the RTX 4090 is not being utilized to its full potential at this resolution, or that the mobile implementation is throttling under sustained load.

The GPU's architecture is Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, which are relevant for Hitman 2's rendering path. The measured PassMark G3D score of 38,194 puts the GPU in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are professional workstation cards (AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, Intel Arc Pro A60), not gaming-focused GPUs. This indicates that in the benchmark database's scoring, the RTX 4090 mobile is being compared against a wide field, and its gaming performance is strong but not class-leading.

The 450 W TDP is notable for a mobile GPU, and the triple-slot cooler with a 1x 16-pin power connector suggests this is a high-power laptop part. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU pushes 238 FPS average, which is excellent, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 34 FPS. This 7x reduction in frame rate from Low 1080p to Ultra 4K is steep, and it points to the GPU being the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of scaling across resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo averages 238 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 152 FPS (a 36% reduction), and at 3840x2160 Low it falls to 81 FPS (a 66% reduction from 1080p). This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where each pixel count increase directly impacts frame rate.

At High settings, the progression is 135 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p (36% drop), and 46 FPS at 4K (66% drop from 1080p). The percentage drops are nearly identical between Low and High settings, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component across all quality presets. The CPU's role remains constant, and the GPU's workload scales linearly with resolution.

The Medium settings show a similar trend: 178 FPS at 1080p, 114 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 99 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the 34 FPS average is below the 60 FPS target most gamers consider smooth, and even 4K Medium at 61 FPS barely reaches that threshold.

What is striking is the drop from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, the 86 FPS at 1440p becomes 46 FPS at 4K, a 47% reduction. This is larger than the 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is hitting a more significant bottleneck at 4K. The RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM is not the issue; rather, the raw compute throughput (82.58 TFLOPS FP32) is being saturated by the 8.3 million pixels at 4K. The data suggests that for Hitman 2, this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where it delivers well above 60 FPS at all settings except Ultra (64 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 652nd out of 3,001 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the 78th percentile of all tested systems, meaning 22% of configurations perform better. Given that the CPU scores in the 95th percentile of all CPUs and the GPU in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, one might expect a higher rank.

The discrepancy between component percentiles and combo rank suggests that Hitman 2 is not particularly demanding on either component, and other factors (such as memory latency, driver overhead, or the mobile platform's power delivery) are influencing the results. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, scores nearly identically (76,155 vs. 76,212), and the GPU's nearest rivals are professional cards, which indicates that this combo is not necessarily optimized for gaming in this specific title.

The rank of 652 out of 3,001 is respectable but not elite. For context, if the combo were ranked in the top 100, it would suggest near-flawless performance. Instead, the data indicates that while the individual components are strong, their combination in a mobile platform yields results that are good but not outstanding for Hitman 2. The 4K Ultra score of 34 FPS is particularly weak for a flagship GPU, and it drags the overall ranking down.

The Combo rank also reflects the measured nature of the data: these are real-world results from a specific laptop implementation, not theoretical maximums. The 450 W GPU TDP and 55 W CPU TDP (with 5.40 GHz boost) suggest the system has power to work with, but thermal constraints in a mobile chassis may prevent sustained peak performance. The data shows that the combo is more competitive at lower resolutions, where the GPU is less stressed and the CPU's high single-thread score (Cinebench R23 single-core: 6,030) can shine.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture (Dragon Range codename), built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 per core. This is a high-end mobile part, scoring 42,713 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6,030 in single-core tests. Its PassMark multi-thread score is 51,405, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and handle game logic. The game is not particularly CPU-intensive by modern standards, and the 16-core, 32-thread configuration is overkill for this title. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 238 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit. The CPU's single-thread performance (6,030 in Cinebench R23) ensures that the game's main thread is not a bottleneck, even at high frame rates.

The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX, scores 76,155 on average benchmark, which is only 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 9 8945HX's 76,212. This is effectively a tie, meaning that either processor would perform similarly in Hitman 2. The AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX score slightly higher (76,492 and 76,513, respectively), but these are workstation/server parts with different power envelopes and are not relevant for gaming comparisons.

The CPU's memory support is DDR5 dual-channel with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is ample for Hitman 2. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 28 lanes provides sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 4090, though the GPU uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The integrated Radeon 610M graphics are present but not used for gaming. The CPU's TDP of 55 W is modest for a 16-core part, and in a mobile system, this allows the GPU to draw the majority of the power budget (450 W).

In terms of game performance, the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. The data shows consistent frame rate drops when moving from 1080p to 4K, which is a GPU-bound pattern. Even at 1080p Ultra (99 FPS), the CPU has headroom, as evidenced by its ability to push 238 FPS at Low settings. The CPU's role is to ensure smooth minimum frame rates, and while the data does not include min FPS for most settings, the Medium preset shows a min of 152 FPS at 1080p and 52 FPS at 4K, indicating the CPU maintains acceptable frame pacing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across resolutions and settings. All values are averages unless noted, and the Medium settings include min/max ranges.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 81 FPS average
• Medium: 61 FPS average (min 52, max 70)
• High: 46 FPS average
• Ultra: 34 FPS average

At 4K, the combo is only playable at Low settings (81 FPS) or Medium (61 FPS). High at 46 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset shows a min of 52 FPS, which means there are dips below 60 FPS even at this setting. The gap between Low and Ultra (81 to 34 FPS) represents a 58% reduction in performance, which is substantial.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 152 FPS average
• Medium: 114 FPS average (min 97, max 131)
• High: 86 FPS average
• Ultra: 64 FPS average

At 1440p, the combo delivers excellent performance. Low settings exceed 150 FPS, Medium stays above 110 FPS, and even Ultra manages 64 FPS average. The Medium preset's min of 97 FPS shows consistent frame delivery. High at 86 FPS is smooth for most monitors, and Ultra at 64 FPS is playable, though it hovers near the 60 FPS threshold. This resolution is the sweet spot for this combo in Hitman 2.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 238 FPS average
• Medium: 178 FPS average (min 152, max 205)
• High: 135 FPS average
• Ultra: 99 FPS average

At 1080p, the combo is exceptionally fast. Low settings nearly hit 240 FPS, which is likely the engine cap or near it. Medium stays above 170 FPS, and High is well above 120 FPS. Ultra at 99 FPS is still very smooth. The Medium preset's min of 152 FPS indicates there is no noticeable stuttering. This resolution is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU has significant headroom.

Comparing settings at each resolution: at 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is 139 FPS (238 to 99), a 58% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is 88 FPS (152 to 64), also a 58% reduction. At 4K, the drop is 47 FPS (81 to 34), a 58% reduction. This consistent percentage across resolutions confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, and the settings scaling is uniform regardless of resolution.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data. At 1080p, the min is 152 and max is 205, a range of 53 FPS. At 1440p, the min is 97 and max is 131, a range of 34 FPS. At 4K, the min is 52 and max is 70, a range of 18 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is more consistently loaded, reducing frame time variance. This is typical of GPU-bound scenarios.

For practical use, the data suggests: if you own a 4K monitor, stick to Medium settings for a playable experience. If you have a 1440p display, you can run Ultra or High with confidence. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with even Ultra exceeding 90 FPS. The RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor, and the CPU never becomes the primary constraint. This combo is well-balanced for Hitman 2 at 1080p and 1440p, but underperforms at 4K Ultra relative to what the GPU specs would suggest.