Hitman 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 presents a stark contrast in capabilities within Hitman 2. The CPU is a top-tier, current-generation part, while the GPU is an older, end-of-life model. The measured FPS data across resolutions and settings reveals exactly how this imbalance manifests in practice, with the graphics card consistently acting as the performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and clearly indicates a GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 76.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 46.6 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 29.7 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average plummets further to 23.5 FPS, which is less than one-third of the 1080p result. This steep, linear decline is the hallmark of a system where the graphics processor is the limiting component.

The pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, the transition from 130.2 FPS at 1080p to 86 FPS at 1440p to 43.8 FPS at 4K shows the same scaling behavior. Even at the lowest graphical load, the 4K resolution cuts performance by roughly two-thirds compared to 1080p. This demonstrates that the RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, cannot sustain adequate frame rates at 4K regardless of the quality preset.

The data suggests that 1080p is the only practical resolution for this combo. At 1440p, only the Low preset (86 FPS) approaches a smooth experience; Medium (64.7 FPS) and High (46.6 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra (35.7 FPS) is below typical playability thresholds. The 4K results, ranging from 43.8 FPS at Low to a meager 18.1 FPS at Ultra, are uniformly poor. The CPU's immense power is irrelevant here; the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth dictate the outcome.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing ranks 1471 out of 1795 combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the lower percentile of all tested systems, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's age and class relative to the CPU. The 1471st rank out of 1795 total combos indicates that the large majority of other pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this specific game.

The ranking is not a reflection of the CPU's capability. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz and 128 MB of shared L3 cache. Its synthetic benchmarks place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71660. It outperforms its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, by 1.8%, and the Intel Core i7-14700KF by 2.2%. However, in a game like Hitman 2 at high resolutions, these CPU advantages are nullified by the GPU's inability to process frames fast enough.

The combo's rank is almost entirely a GPU story. The RTX 2060 sits in the 58th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 16074. It is closely matched with the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, which it leads by only 0.5%, and trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Pro 5700 by 1.7%. This mid-range GPU performance level is what drags the entire combo down in the rankings, despite the flagship-class CPU.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the 12 nm Turing architecture (TU106 chip) and features a base clock of 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. It has 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its memory subsystem consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. These specifications place it as a solid 1080p performer from its generation, but the data confirms it is out of its depth at higher resolutions in Hitman 2.

The GPU's 6 GB VRAM is a critical constraint. While Hitman 2 is not typically a VRAM-heavy title, the combination of high resolution and Ultra settings can exceed this capacity. The measured FPS drop from 57.8 at 1080p Ultra to 35.7 at 1440p Ultra, and further to 18.1 at 4K Ultra, suggests that beyond raw compute limits, memory capacity and bandwidth are also being stressed. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, while respectable for its era, becomes a bottleneck when the render target scales to 4K.

The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 6.451 TFLOPS FP32, are modest by current standards. Its PassMark G3D score of 14111 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 reflect its mid-range positioning. The RTX 2060's performance in this game aligns with its overall percentile ranking of 58, meaning it performs better than 58% of all GPUs in the database but is far from the top tier. The data shows this GPU is the determining factor in the combo's overall game performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 57.8 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1471st out of 1795 total combinations for Hitman 2.

Q: Does lowering settings to Low at 4K provide a playable frame rate?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 43.8, which is below the 60 FPS threshold typically considered smooth, but it is the highest 4K result in the data.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark percentile compared to the GPU's?

A: The CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Which rival GPU is the RTX 2060 closest to in average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600S is the closest, with the RTX 2060 scoring 0.5% higher.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p High and 1440p High?

A: The average FPS drops from 76.3 at 1080p High to 46.6 at 1440p High, a decrease of 29.7 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average FPS data is as follows:

• 3840x2160 (4K): Low 43.8 FPS, Medium 32.4 FPS, High 23.5 FPS, Ultra 18.1 FPS.
• 2560x1440 (1440p): Low 86 FPS, Medium 64.7 FPS, High 46.6 FPS, Ultra 35.7 FPS.
• 1920x1080 (1080p): Low 130.2 FPS, Medium 99.8 FPS, High 76.3 FPS, Ultra 57.8 FPS.

These figures show a consistent pattern. At each resolution, there is a substantial gap between the Low and Ultra presets. At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 72.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the graphical load differences. At 1440p, the spread narrows to 50.3 FPS, and at 4K, it narrows further to 25.7 FPS. This compression of the FPS range at higher resolutions is a classic sign of a GPU reaching its absolute limits, where even reducing settings cannot compensate for the sheer pixel count.

The 1440p results are the most telling. The jump from High (46.6 FPS) to Medium (64.7 FPS) is an 18.1 FPS improvement, showing that settings matter. However, even the Low preset at 86 FPS cannot match the 1080p Low result of 130.2 FPS. The 4K data is uniformly below 44 FPS, confirming that this resolution is not viable for this GPU in this game, regardless of settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-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 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a massive 128 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration, combined with its high clock speeds, makes it an exceptionally powerful gaming and productivity CPU.

Synthetic benchmarks show its dominance. It scores 59712 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 8430 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 22515 multi-core and 3401 single-core. Its PassMark multithread score is 70255, and its single-thread score is 4737. These results place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs and give it an average benchmark score of 71660, which is 1.8% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 2.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-14700KF.

However, in Hitman 2, the CPU's role is largely passive due to the GPU bottleneck. The game is not heavily multi-threaded, so the 32 threads are underutilized. The CPU's high single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1292) is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 2060. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would theoretically have the most influence, the FPS is 130.2, which is likely below what the CPU could deliver if paired with a more powerful GPU. The CPU is not the constraint; it is performing its role of frame generation instructions flawlessly, but the GPU cannot execute them fast enough. The limiting factor is entirely on the graphics side.