Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B570 pairing presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics within Hitman 2. The data from the measured FPS rows reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions, but which unlocks significant CPU headroom at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics, ranking context, and practical settings for this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the Intel Arc B570 becomes the limiting factor. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 123 FPS average, but this figure collapses to 42 FPS at 3840x2160 with the same settings — a drop of 81 FPS, or roughly 66% of the 1080p performance. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is being saturated as pixel count increases, while the Ryzen 9 9900X's substantial processing power remains underutilized at lower resolutions.

The scaling pattern across all settings reinforces this conclusion. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 70 at 1080p to 45 at 1440p, and finally to 24 at 4K. This represents a 65.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K, nearly identical to the Low setting drop. Such consistent scaling suggests the render pipeline is purely GPU-bound; if the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see a more pronounced plateau at higher resolutions where the GPU workload per frame increases.

Interestingly, the Medium preset shows the most linear scaling with a 32 FPS average at 4K, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 1080p. The ratio between 1080p and 1440p here is 1.58x, while the ratio between 1440p and 4K is 1.84x. This non-uniform scaling hints at memory bandwidth limitations on the Arc B570, which has a 160-bit bus and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. As resolution increases, the demand on memory bandwidth grows faster than the compute load, creating a secondary bottleneck beyond raw shader throughput.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic degradation, with 52 FPS at 1080p falling to 18 FPS at 4K — a 65.4% reduction. This preset likely engages the 18 ray tracing cores on the Arc B570, and the data suggests that ray tracing workloads scale particularly poorly with resolution on this GPU architecture. The 4K Ultra result of 18 FPS is the single lowest measurement in the entire dataset, indicating that this configuration is not viable for 4K gaming at maximum quality.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this CPU-GPU combination achieves a combo rank of 2399 out of 3001 tested configurations for Hitman 2. This places it in the 20th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 80% of tested pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this specific title. The rank reflects the Arc B570's position as a mid-range graphics solution rather than any deficiency in the Ryzen 9 9900X.

The CPU itself performs exceptionally well in synthetic benchmarks, scoring 32,172 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,253 in single-core. Its average benchmark score of 57,498 places it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct -0.1%), Intel Core i9-14900 (deltaPct -1.1%), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (deltaPct -1.4%). These deltas are minimal, indicating the 9900X is essentially at parity with top-tier server and desktop processors.

However, the GPU's average benchmark score of 20,556 places it in only the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.1%), Intel Arc A750 (deltaPct -0.1%), and NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (deltaPct 0.4%). The Arc B570 is thus positioned in the middle of the GPU performance curve, which combined with the high-end CPU creates an imbalanced pairing for gaming workloads.

The combination's rank of 2399 suggests that in Hitman 2 specifically, the CPU's advantages are largely negated by the GPU ceiling. The 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads, while excellent for productivity tasks, do not translate to proportional gaming gains when paired with a GPU that cannot feed frames fast enough at higher resolutions. This is a classic case where the database's combo ranking reveals system balance issues that component-level benchmarks would miss.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 106 FPS. This represents the best balance of visual quality and smoothness for most players, as it exceeds the 60 FPS threshold with comfortable headroom while providing better visuals than Low.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset again proves the sweet spot, achieving 59 FPS average with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. While the average just misses the 60 FPS mark, the 50 FPS minimum is still playable for a stealth title like Hitman 2, where precise timing matters more than twitch reflexes. The High preset at 1440p drops to 45 FPS, which would be noticeably less smooth during crowded scenes.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a consistently playable frame rate. The Low preset offers 42 FPS average, which is borderline playable but requires significant visual compromises. The Medium preset at 32 FPS (27-36 FPS range) is too choppy for the game's stealth mechanics, where quick camera movements during evasion are common. The High 4K result of 24 FPS and Ultra at 18 FPS are effectively unplayable.

For the best overall experience, the data suggests prioritizing Medium settings at any resolution. This preset consistently delivers the most balanced performance across all three resolutions, with the 1080p Medium result of 93 FPS being the highest frame rate achieved at that visual quality level. Players with 1080p monitors should consider High settings (70 FPS) if they prioritize visuals, but Medium offers a more substantial safety margin above the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 123 FPS average, Medium delivers 93 FPS (79-106 FPS range), High produces 70 FPS, and Ultra drops to 52 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 71 FPS, demonstrating that the Arc B570 has significant headroom at 1080p even with the most demanding settings.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally: Low delivers 79 FPS, Medium achieves 59 FPS (50-68 FPS range), High produces 45 FPS, and Ultra falls to 33 FPS. The 1440p results show a 46 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, with each successive settings tier costing roughly 13-14 FPS on average.

The 3840x2160 results reveal severe GPU limitations: Low delivers 42 FPS, Medium achieves 32 FPS (27-36 FPS range), High produces 24 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 18 FPS. The 4K data shows a compressed performance envelope, with only 24 FPS separating Low from Ultra. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is operating at its absolute limits regardless of settings, and the Ryzen 9 9900X's processing power is effectively idle.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions, providing the most reliable performance characterization. At 1080p, the 79-106 FPS range shows healthy frame pacing with no severe drops. At 1440p, the 50-68 FPS range maintains playability throughout. At 4K, the 27-36 FPS range exhibits the stutter-prone behavior typical of sub-30 FPS gaming.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications directly explain the measured performance patterns. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, which becomes a critical constraint at higher resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 32 FPS versus 1080p Medium at 93 FPS shows a 65.6% reduction, closely matching the bandwidth scaling between these resolutions.

The GPU's 18 ray tracing cores and 80 ROPs contribute to the Ultra preset performance. The 4K Ultra result of 18 FPS indicates that ray tracing effects, when enabled at maximum quality, overwhelm the B570's compute capabilities. The 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance is sufficient for 1080p gaming but insufficient for 4K with advanced effects enabled.

The 2500 MHz base and boost clock (identical values) suggest the card operates at a fixed frequency under load, which simplifies performance prediction. The 150 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provide adequate bandwidth for most gaming workloads, though the x8 connection could theoretically limit performance in memory-intensive scenarios.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its mid-range positioning: PassMark G3D score of 14,195 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,649. These place it at 65th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals being the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750. The B570's Vulkan score of 96,844 suggests strong API efficiency, which likely contributes to its relatively better performance in Hitman 2's DX12 mode.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS across multiple settings. At Medium settings, 1080p achieves 93 FPS average, while 1440p Medium drops to 59 FPS and 4K Medium falls to 32 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 57,498 sits within 1.4% of its closest competitors. It trails the Intel Core i9-14900 by 1.1%, matches the AMD EPYC 9015 within 0.1%, and exceeds the AMD EPYC 7313 by 0.2%.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: No. The Ultra preset achieves 52 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. Only the 1080p result approaches playability, but it still falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What causes the significant FPS drop from 1440p to 4K?

A: The 4K resolution increases pixel count by 2.25x compared to 1440p, which heavily taxes the Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 11.52 TFLOPS compute. The Medium preset drops from 59 FPS at 1440p to 32 FPS at 4K, a 45.8% reduction.

Q: How does the Arc B570 rank against other GPUs?

A: Its average benchmark score of 20,556 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. It performs within 0.5% of the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and Radeon R9 M390X.

Q: What is the most consistent settings preset across all resolutions?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data, showing 93 FPS (79-106) at 1080p, 59 FPS (50-68) at 1440p, and 32 FPS (27-36) at 4K. It provides the most predictable frame pacing across the resolution spectrum.