Hitman 2

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D sits at rank 1 out of 3,001 tested combos in Hitman 2. This is the top-performing configuration in the database for this title, placing it in the 99.97th percentile of all tested systems. The combo's dominance is reflected across every resolution and settings tier in the measured data, with no other configuration in the database achieving higher average frame rates in this game.

The CPU itself holds a 92nd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 57,498. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 (scoring 57,555, a delta of -0.1%), the AMD EPYC 7313 (57,399, +0.2%), the Intel Core i9-14900 (58,115, -1.1%), and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58,323, -1.4%). The GPU similarly holds a 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest competitors are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904, +1.1%), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, -1.6%), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396, -2.1%), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605, -2.4%).

While the individual components rank in the 92nd percentile of their respective categories, their combined performance in Hitman 2 is exceptional, achieving the top spot among over three thousand configurations. The data indicates that this pairing extracts near-maximal performance from the game engine, with the CPU's high single-thread throughput and the GPU's massive compute resources working in concert. The gap between this combo and the rest of the field is substantial, as evidenced by the frame rates detailed in later sections.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It houses 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with a transistor density of 122.9 million per square millimeter. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2017 MHz and boosts to 2407 MHz, while memory runs at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Hitman 2's detailed environments at high resolutions.

The GPU's compute resources are substantial: 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, 176 raster output units, 170 ray tracing cores, and 680 tensor cores. Pixel throughput reaches 423.6 GPixel/s, and texture fill rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, with FP16 matching at 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). These specifications translate into a PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326, with Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores of 310,674 and 376,915 respectively.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution scales. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 52 FPS, indicating that the GPU is being pushed to its limits by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings. The 32 GB VRAM buffer is far in excess of what Hitman 2 requires, but the sheer compute load at 4K Ultra is what constrains performance. The benchmark results show a clear pattern: the GPU's massive memory bandwidth and compute throughput enable high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the game's engine at 4K Ultra demands more than even this flagship card can deliver at 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet informative scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 365 FPS, dropping to 234 FPS at 1440p Low and 124 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor even at the lowest settings. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads, with base and boost clocks of 4.40 GHz and 5.60 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the rendering load at 4K overwhelms the GPU regardless of settings.

At Medium settings, the scaling is steeper: 274 FPS at 1080p, 175 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is 47%, showing that the GPU's workload increases non-linearly with resolution. The High preset shows similar behavior: 207 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings produce 153 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K, with the 4K Ultra result being the only sub-60 FPS figure in the entire dataset.

The frame rate deltas between resolutions highlight the GPU-bound nature of Hitman 2 at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the 1080p to 4K drop is 241 FPS, while at Ultra it is 101 FPS. This suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, and the additional resolution scaling has a proportionally smaller absolute impact. The data indicates that for competitive play at high refresh rates, 1080p or 1440p with Medium or High settings is optimal, while 4K requires a compromise on settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide clear guidance on the optimal settings for this combo. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 274 FPS with a minimum of 233 FPS and a maximum of 315 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 1080p produces 207 FPS, still excellent for competitive play, while Ultra drops to 153 FPS. For players prioritizing frame rate at 1080p, Medium offers the best balance, as the jump to High only adds visual fidelity at the cost of 67 FPS.

At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 175 FPS with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS, making it the recommended choice for smooth gameplay on 144Hz monitors. The High preset at 1440p yields 132 FPS, which is still above 120 FPS and suitable for high-refresh displays, but the Medium preset's minimum frame rate of 149 FPS ensures a more consistent experience. Ultra at 1440p drops to 98 FPS, which is playable but sacrifices the fluidity that this combo can deliver at lower settings.

At 4K, the situation is more nuanced. The Medium preset delivers 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that maintains an average above 90 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 71 FPS, while Low produces 124 FPS. Ultra at 4K averages 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider acceptable. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the best experience, offering a playable frame rate with reasonable visual quality. The data suggests that the GPU's 32 GB VRAM is not the constraint; rather, the rendering workload at 4K Ultra exceeds the GPU's compute capacity for this game engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average frame rates: Low at 365 FPS, Medium at 274 FPS (minimum 233, maximum 315), High at 207 FPS, and Ultra at 153 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression, with each settings tier costing approximately 60-90 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 212 FPS, demonstrating the significant performance headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 234 FPS, Medium at 175 FPS (minimum 149, maximum 201), High at 132 FPS, and Ultra at 98 FPS. The 1440p results show a tighter progression, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 136 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum frame rate of 149 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the combo maintains a high level of performance.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 124 FPS, Medium at 93 FPS (minimum 79, maximum 107), High at 71 FPS, and Ultra at 52 FPS. The 4K results show the most dramatic scaling, with the difference between Low and Ultra being 72 FPS. Notably, the Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 60 FPS average, highlighting the extreme demands of 4K Ultra in Hitman 2.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename), manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. It includes integrated Radeon Graphics, though Hitman 2's performance is dominated by the discrete GPU.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9900X achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,172 and single-core score of 2,253. Geekbench results show 22,174 multi-core and 3,010 single-core. PassMark tests reveal a multi-thread score of 54,643 and single-thread score of 4,672, with notable results in integer math (181,056), floating-point math (120,083), and data compression (683,579). The 3DMark tests show 12,552 for 16 threads, 9,114 for 8 threads, and 1,286 for single-thread.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The benchmark data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is not the bottleneck, as frame rates exceed 200 FPS at Medium settings and above. The 12-core, 24-thread configuration with high boost clocks ensures that even the most demanding scenes in Hitman 2 are processed without CPU-induced frame drops. The CPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 57,498, places it slightly below the AMD EPYC 9015 (57,555, -0.1%) but above the AMD EPYC 7313 (57,399, +0.2%). This level of performance is more than sufficient for Hitman 2, which is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

The data shows that the CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1,286 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,253, is critical for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 365 FPS, which is only possible with strong single-thread performance. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's role diminishes, but it never becomes a constraint in the measured configurations.