Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

This combo lands in the 71st percentile for Hitman 2, ranking 1078 out of 3711 tested combinations. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, a 12-core Zen 5 part, paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a playable experience at most settings, but the data shows a clear ceiling at 4K Ultra where frame rates dip to 32 FPS. The sweet spot lies in Medium settings across all resolutions, where the balance between visual fidelity and performance is most favorable.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal that Medium settings offer the best experience per the data. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 170 FPS average, which is 34% higher than High's 128 FPS, while the visual difference between Medium and High in Hitman 2 is typically less pronounced than the performance gap. The Medium preset also provides the only complete min/max FPS data in the pack, with 144 FPS minimum and 195 FPS maximum at 1080p, indicating stable frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 109 FPS average with a 92 FPS minimum, keeping gameplay above the 60 FPS threshold with headroom. High at this resolution drops to 82 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p hits 145 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial for only a 33% gain over Medium.

For 3840x2160, Medium is the only preset that maintains a playable average, at 58 FPS with a 49 FPS minimum. High at 4K averages 44 FPS, which dips below the 60 FPS ideal for fast-paced stealth action, while Ultra at 32 FPS is effectively unplayable for smooth gameplay. Low at 4K reaches 77 FPS, but the graphical downgrade undermines the purpose of 4K resolution.

The data strongly suggests Medium as the recommended preset for this combo. It provides the best frame-time consistency across all three resolutions, as evidenced by the min/max ranges of 144-195 FPS at 1080p, 92-125 FPS at 1440p, and 49-67 FPS at 4K. High is viable for 1080p and 1440p if visual quality takes priority, but the user should accept the frame rate reduction.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 170 at 1080p to 109 at 1440p (a 36% reduction), then to 58 at 4K (a 47% further reduction). This progressive decline indicates that the RTX 3080's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic: 227 FPS at 1080p falls to 145 at 1440p (36% drop) and then 77 at 4K (47% drop again). The consistent percentage reductions across settings suggest the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution — if the Ryzen 9 9900X were limiting, the 1080p numbers would show less scaling headroom.

High settings show 128 FPS at 1080p, 82 at 1440p (36% drop), and 44 at 4K (46% drop). Ultra follows the same pattern: 95 FPS at 1080p, 61 at 1440p (36% drop), and 32 at 4K (48% drop). This uniform scaling pattern across all four presets is a hallmark of GPU-limited performance.

The 4K to 1080p ratio at Medium is 58/170 (0.34), meaning the combo retains only about one-third of its 1080p performance at 4K. This is consistent with the RTX 3080's 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth being taxed by the higher pixel throughput required at 4K.

The data indicates that for this game, the RTX 3080's compute capacity — 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 and 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate — is the primary constraint from 1440p upward. At 1080p, the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X with its 5.60 GHz boost clock is more than sufficient to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the 227 FPS Low result.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080's specifications align with the measured performance profile. The GPU features 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a base clock of 1440 MHz and boost clock of 1710 MHz. The 10 GB GDDR6X memory operates at 19 Gbps effective, providing 760.3 GB/s bandwidth across a 320-bit bus.

In Hitman 2, the VRAM capacity appears adequate for the tested presets. The 10 GB allocation handles the texture and geometry demands at 4K Ultra without the frame rate collapse that would indicate memory swapping. The FPS at Ultra (32 at 4K) is low but consistent, suggesting compute-bound rather than memory-bound performance.

The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s directly impact the resolution scaling observed. At 4K, the GPU must process 8.3 million pixels per frame, and the measured 32 FPS at Ultra translates to roughly 266 million pixels per second, which is below the theoretical pixel rate but realistic given the shader complexity.

The GPU's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are not specifically leveraged by Hitman 2's traditional rendering pipeline, as evidenced by the game's release date of 2018-11-12, predating the RTX 30-series architecture. The Ampere architecture's raw rasterization throughput is what drives these results.

The RTX 3080's average benchmark score of 23172 places it at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA P106-100 (delta -0.3%) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (delta -0.3%). This indicates the GPU performs near the median of tested hardware in general benchmarks, but the Hitman 2-specific results show it punching above that weight at lower resolutions.

The 320 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest the card is power-hungry, but the measured FPS data does not indicate thermal throttling — the consistent scaling patterns across presets would show irregularity if power limits were hit.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 227 FPS on Low, 170 FPS on Medium, 128 FPS on High, and 95 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 195 FPS, indicating a tight frame range. The step from Low to Medium costs 57 FPS (25% reduction), while Medium to High costs 42 FPS (25% reduction), and High to Ultra costs 33 FPS (26% reduction) — a remarkably consistent 25% performance penalty per preset tier.

At 2560x1440, the scores are 145 FPS on Low, 109 FPS on Medium, 82 FPS on High, and 61 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again provides min/max data: 92 FPS minimum and 125 FPS maximum. The percentage drops between presets mirror the 1080p pattern: Low to Medium is 25%, Medium to High is 25%, and High to Ultra is 26%.

At 3840x2160, the results are 77 FPS on Low, 58 FPS on Medium, 44 FPS on High, and 32 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows 49 FPS minimum and 67 FPS maximum. The relative penalty between presets is slightly smaller at 4K: Low to Medium is 25%, Medium to High is 24%, and High to Ultra is 27%.

The 1080p Low result of 227 FPS demonstrates the Ryzen 9 9900X's capability to drive high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. The 12-core processor with 24 threads and a 5.60 GHz boost clock provides ample single-thread performance — evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1286 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2253 — to feed the RTX 3080 at low settings.

The 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS is the weakest measured point, falling below the 60 FPS threshold by nearly half. This represents the worst-case scenario for this combo, and the data suggests users avoid this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1078 out of 3711 tested combinations in Hitman 2, placing it in roughly the 71st percentile. This is a solid mid-tier position, though not exceptional. The ranking reflects that while the RTX 3080 is a capable GPU, it is not among the top-tier cards for this game, and the Ryzen 9 9900X's strengths (multi-threaded workloads) are not fully utilized by Hitman 2's engine.

The CPU's nearest rivals in general benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 9015 (delta -0.1%), AMD EPYC 7313 (delta +0.2%), Intel Core i9-14900 (delta -1.1%), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (delta -1.4%). These deltas are minimal, indicating the 9900X performs within 1.4% of these competitors on average. The 9900X's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32172 and Geekbench multicore of 22174 place it in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals — NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X — show deltas of -0.3% to -0.4%, meaning the RTX 3080 is essentially tied with these disparate cards in aggregate benchmarks. This is unusual given the architectural differences, but the 68th percentile GPU ranking reflects the broad spectrum of tested hardware.

Given the combo's 1078 rank, users should expect this pairing to outperform roughly 71% of tested configurations in Hitman 2. The ranking is likely held back by the 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS, which drags down the overall score relative to combos that can maintain 60 FPS at maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium settings provide the best balance, with 109 FPS average and a 92 FPS minimum. High at 82 FPS is also viable, but the 25% FPS reduction from Medium to High may not justify the visual gains.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at 60 FPS?

A: No. The best 4K result is 77 FPS on Low settings, but Medium drops to 58 FPS, High to 44 FPS, and Ultra to 32 FPS. To reach 60 FPS at 4K, users would need to use Low settings or accept lower frame rates.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X perform in single-threaded workloads relevant to gaming?

A: The CPU scores 1286 in 3dmark_single_thread, 2253 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 3010 in Geekbench single-core. These scores support the high 1080p frame rates observed, such as 227 FPS on Low settings.

Q: Is the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM sufficient for Hitman 2?

A: Yes. The measured FPS data shows no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or crashes, even at 4K Ultra. The consistent frame rates across presets indicate the 10 GB GDDR6X memory is adequate for this game's requirements.

Q: What is the frame consistency at 1080p Medium?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 144 FPS and maximum of 195 FPS, with an average of 170 FPS. This 51 FPS spread indicates generally smooth performance with occasional dips in demanding scenes.

Q: How does this combo compare to the 9900X's nearest CPU rivals in this game?

A: The ranking of 1078 out of 3711 suggests the combo performs in the upper tier, but the CPU's nearest rivals (EPYC 9015, EPYC 7313, i9-14900) all score within 1.4% in general benchmarks, so in-game differences are likely minimal and overshadowed by the GPU's performance.