Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a 2018 stealth title, proves to be a demanding benchmark for the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 mobile combo. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of high refresh-rate gaming at 1080p but quickly becomes constrained as resolution and settings increase. The pairing of a 14-core Meteor Lake CPU with an Ada Lovelace GPU produces a balanced experience at lower resolutions, but the GPU's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become limiting factors at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to determine the optimal settings, contextualize the combo's rank, and identify the bottleneck at each resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions, delivering smooth frame rates without the steep performance penalty of Ultra settings. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 115 FPS, which is a substantial 51 FPS higher than the Ultra preset's 64 FPS. This makes Medium the clear choice for competitive or fast-paced play, as it provides a fluid experience that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin while retaining enough visual fidelity to appreciate the game's detailed environments.

For users with 1440p displays, the Medium preset again proves to be the sweet spot. The measured average of 73 FPS at 2560x1440 is well within the range of what most gamers consider smooth, and it maintains a 32 FPS advantage over the Ultra preset, which drops to 41 FPS. The High preset at this resolution offers 55 FPS, which is playable but may feel less consistent during busy scenes. The data suggests that the visual jump from Medium to High does not justify the 18 FPS loss, making Medium the most efficient choice for a high-refresh-rate 1440p experience.

At 4K, the situation becomes more restrictive. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of 39 FPS, with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 45 FPS. This is the only preset at this resolution that maintains an average above 30 FPS, which is typically considered the minimum for a playable console-like experience. The High preset drops to 30 FPS, which can feel stuttery, while Low runs at 52 FPS but sacrifices significant visual quality. Therefore, for 4K, Medium is the only viable option for a playable experience, though users should be prepared for frame rates that hover around 40 FPS and may dip below that in demanding scenes.

The data indicates that the Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution with this hardware. The performance cost is simply too high, with the average FPS dropping to 64 at 1080p, 41 at 1440p, and a near-unplayable 22 at 4K. The visual improvements offered by Ultra over High or Medium are not worth the massive reduction in frame rate, especially when the Medium preset provides a much more stable and responsive experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this combo for a high-refresh-rate experience?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the combo can consistently deliver very high frame rates. At Medium settings, it achieves an average of 115 FPS, and at Low settings, it reaches 153 FPS. This makes 1080p the ideal choice for monitors with 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rates.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 powerful enough for 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: The measured data suggests that 4K is a challenge for this GPU. At Medium settings, the average FPS is 39, which is below the 60 FPS target most gamers prefer. The High setting drops to 30 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS. While playable on Medium, the experience is not smooth by modern standards.

Q: How does the CPU's core count affect performance in Hitman 2?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has 14 cores and 18 threads. The benchmark results show that at lower resolutions like 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the system can achieve high frame rates (153 FPS on Low), suggesting the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately. The performance bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution increases, which is typical for this type of game.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 98 FPS, while the High preset achieves 55 FPS. This represents a 43 FPS difference, or roughly a 43.9% reduction in frame rate, which is a significant visual quality trade-off for a substantial performance gain.

Q: At what resolution does the RTX 4060 become the primary bottleneck?

A: The frame rate drops from 153 FPS at 1080p Low to 98 FPS at 1440p Low, and then to 52 FPS at 4K Low. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, with a 46.9% performance drop. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is heavily saturated and is the primary limiting factor, as the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates.

Q: How does the combo's rank in Hitman 2 compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 2271 out of 3711 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, suggesting that while it is capable of playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, there are many other hardware combinations that deliver significantly better performance in this specific title.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 2271 out of 3711 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the lower 38.8% of all systems tested, indicating that while it is a competent mobile solution, it is not among the top performers for this specific title. The rank reflects the significant performance drop at higher resolutions, where the GPU's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus limit its ability to handle the game's demanding 4K assets.

The nearest rival data for the GPU provides context for its overall compute capability. The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17639, which is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, -0.2%) and the AMD Radeon 780M (17588, +0.3%). This suggests that in raw synthetic benchmarks, the GPU is on par with these older or integrated rivals, but the measured FPS in Hitman 2 shows it is capable of a playable experience, especially at 1080p.

The CPU's ranking is more favorable. The Core Ultra 5 135H has an average benchmark score of 29093, which places it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (29123, -0.1%), indicating that its multi-threaded performance is comparable to a previous-generation desktop flagship. This strong CPU performance is evident in the game's 1080p results, where the system can achieve 153 FPS on Low settings, suggesting the CPU is not a limiting factor until the GPU becomes fully saturated at higher resolutions.

The overall combo rank is a product of this imbalance. The CPU is a high performer, but the GPU, while adequate for 1080p, struggles to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and 4K. This results in a system that is well-suited for esports-style play at lower resolutions but will require significant settings reductions to be playable on high-resolution displays. The rank of 2271 serves as a warning that this is not a high-end gaming laptop configuration for modern titles, despite its capable processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system is at its best. The Low preset delivers an average of 153 FPS, making it ideal for maximum refresh rates. The Medium preset offers a superb balance with 115 FPS, while the High preset drops to 87 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one at this resolution that falls below the 100 FPS mark, with an average of 64 FPS. The Medium preset also shows a minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS, indicating a stable frame time experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are significant. The Low preset averages 98 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Medium preset averages 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS, providing a solidly playable experience. The High preset drops to 55 FPS, which is on the cusp of the 60 FPS target. The Ultra preset is the weakest at this resolution, with an average of just 41 FPS, which is not ideal for a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the system is heavily taxed. The Low preset is the only one that provides a high frame rate, averaging 52 FPS. The Medium preset is the only other playable option, with an average of 39 FPS and a minimum of 33 FPS, which can feel choppy. The High preset averages exactly 30 FPS, which is the bare minimum for playability. The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable, with an average of just 22 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the frame rate drops, and the gap between settings presets narrows, indicating that the GPU is becoming the sole limiting factor.

The data also shows a clear hierarchy between presets at each resolution. The percentage drop from Low to Ultra is consistent: at 1080p, the drop is 58.2% (from 153 to 64 FPS); at 1440p, it is 58.2% (from 98 to 41 FPS); and at 4K, it is 57.7% (from 52 to 22 FPS). This consistency suggests that the settings presets have a similar relative impact on the GPU workload regardless of resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals a significant and predictable impact on performance. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 115 to 73, a 36.5% decrease. This is a substantial drop, but it is typical for the 77% increase in pixel count. The drop from 1440p to 4K is even more severe, with the average FPS falling from 73 to 39, a 46.6% decrease. This steep drop indicates that the GPU is running out of memory bandwidth and raw pixel-pushing power at 4K.

This scaling behavior points to the GPU as the primary bottleneck. The RTX 4060, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is simply not designed for 4K gaming. The 4K resolution requires the GPU to process four times as many pixels as 1080p, and the data shows that it cannot maintain playable frame rates above Medium settings.

The CPU's role in this scaling is less prominent. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 153 FPS, indicating a strong CPU performance. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain relatively flat as resolution increases. Instead, the frame rate drops significantly, proving that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU, with its 14 cores and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, is more than capable of handling the game's logic and draw calls at these frame rates.

The data suggests that users who want to play at 4K will need to significantly lower settings to the Low preset, which yields 52 FPS, or accept a sub-40 FPS experience on Medium. The "sweet spot" for this hardware is clearly at 1080p or 1440p, where the GPU can maintain a high level of performance without being overwhelmed by the pixel count.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, and its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11875.5 and a single-core score of 1700, place it in the 81st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with a performance delta of -0.1%, meaning the two chips are essentially tied in average benchmark score.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient. At 1080p, the system is able to deliver an average of 153 FPS on Low settings and 87 FPS on High settings. These high frame rates are evidence of the CPU's strong single-thread and multi-thread capabilities, as the game is able to utilize the available cores to process AI, physics, and game logic without creating a bottleneck.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support with 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth also contribute to its ability to feed the GPU with data. The measured data shows that the system is GPU-bound at resolutions above 1080p, which means the CPU has headroom to spare. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K (e.g., from 115 to 39 FPS at Medium settings) is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's inability to render the higher resolution, not the CPU's inability to process the game.

The data indicates that for Hitman 2, the Core Ultra 5 135H is a robust partner for the RTX 4060. It provides enough processing power to avoid limiting the GPU at lower resolutions, and its high multi-core performance ensures smooth gameplay even in complex scenes with many NPCs and dynamic lighting. The CPU is not the weak link in this combo; the GPU's memory architecture and raw throughput are the primary constraints on performance, especially at 4K.