Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + Intel Arc B390

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the Intel Arc B390 integrated graphics produces a severely GPU-limited experience in Hitman 2, with the combo ranking 2662 out of 3001 tested configurations. The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are legacy NVIDIA parts like the GT 520MX (1.3% faster), GeForce 800M (1.5% faster), GT 625 OEM (2.5% faster), and GT 710 (2.7% faster). This positions the combo firmly in entry-level territory, where playable frame rates are only achievable at 1080p with reduced settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, characteristic of a system constrained by the integrated GPU rather than the CPU. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 80 FPS average, which drops to 51 FPS at 1440p Low (a 36% reduction) and further to 27 FPS at 4K Low (a 66% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern—where each resolution step roughly halves the pixel count but frame rates drop by more than half—indicates the Arc B390's fillrate and memory bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks.

Moving from 1080p Medium (60 FPS average) to 1440p Medium (39 FPS) represents a 35% performance loss, while 4K Medium (21 FPS) loses 65% relative to 1080p. The High preset shows similar behavior: 46 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p (37% loss), and 16 FPS at 4K (65% loss). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests the GPU's pixel throughput ceiling is being hit regardless of shader complexity, a hallmark of memory-bandwidth-limited integrated graphics.

The Ultra preset is particularly punishing, with 34 FPS at 1080p, 21 FPS at 1440p (38% loss), and 11 FPS at 4K (68% loss). The system's 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth (shared between CPU and GPU) becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the System Shared memory configuration provides no dedicated VRAM bandwidth. The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the combo approaches playable performance, and even then only at Low or Medium settings. At 4K, all settings produce sub-30 FPS results, with the Ultra preset dipping to 11 FPS—a slideshow experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based strictly on the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and playability is 1080p Medium, which delivers 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS. This is the only combination of resolution and settings that achieves a 60 FPS average in the dataset. The 1080p Low preset reaches 80 FPS average, but sacrifices visual fidelity for headroom; the 20 FPS gain over Medium may not justify the graphical downgrade for most users.

At 1440p, the best option is Low at 51 FPS average, though this falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p Medium preset (39 FPS average, min 33 FPS) is borderline playable for slower-paced stealth gameplay, but frame dips below 35 FPS will be noticeable. The 1440p High preset (29 FPS) and Ultra (21 FPS) are not recommended for smooth play. At 4K, even Low (27 FPS) fails to provide a consistent experience, and the 17 FPS minimum on Medium confirms the GPU cannot sustain interactive frame rates.

The data suggests that 1080p Medium represents the "sweet spot" where the Arc B390's limited resources are used efficiently. The 1080p High preset (46 FPS) is playable but with noticeable stutter potential, while Ultra at any resolution produces averages below 35 FPS. For users prioritizing frame rate stability, 1080p Low at 80 FPS provides the largest safety margin, but Medium's 60 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum keeps the experience above the common 50 FPS playability threshold.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip), with 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its base clock is 300 MHz with a boost of 2500 MHz, yielding a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). Critically, the memory configuration is System Shared with system-dependent bandwidth, meaning the GPU draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU via the dual-channel 102.4 GB/s interface.

This shared-memory architecture is the root cause of the performance collapse at higher resolutions. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the GPU at the 9th percentile, and its nearest rivals are mobile/low-end parts from over a decade ago. The GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% ahead), the GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% ahead), the GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% ahead), and the GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% ahead). This places the Arc B390 in the same performance class as those legacy GPUs, which were considered entry-level even in their heyday.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it can technically render Hitman 2's features. However, the 24 ROPs become a severe constraint at 4K, where the pixel fillrate requirement quadruples versus 1080p. The measured data confirms this: 4K performance ranges from 11 to 27 FPS across settings, while 1080p ranges from 34 to 80 FPS. The 80W TDP and IGP form factor (no power connectors, portable-device-dependent display outputs) indicate this is designed for basic computing, not gaming—yet Hitman 2's 2018 engine still runs, just at reduced settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3001 tested CPU/GPU combinations in Hitman 2, this pairing ranks 2662nd, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations. The rank reflects the Arc B390's 9th-percentile GPU standing, which drags down the Core Ultra 5 225's otherwise strong CPU position (85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938). The CPU's nearest rivals—AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta), Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%), Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%), and Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5%)—are all within 0.5% in average CPU score, showing the processor is competitive. But the GPU's nearest rivals are over a decade old, and the deltaPct values show it is only 1.3-2.7% faster than those parts.

This massive mismatch between CPU and GPU capability creates a system where the processor sits idle waiting for the integrated graphics to catch up. The combo rank of 2662 means roughly 339 tested configurations are slower, which is a small pool given the GPU's low standing. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with any discrete GPU from the past decade would likely yield a much higher rank, but as configured, the Arc B390 caps performance at 1080p Medium for playable frame rates.

The 4K Ultra result of 11 FPS is particularly telling—it represents the absolute worst-case scenario for this combo, and the 17 FPS minimum on 4K Medium shows that even moderate settings can't mask the GPU's limitations. For context, the CPU alone has 10 cores, 10 threads, and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, which would be ample for Hitman 2's CPU demands; the bottleneck is purely on the graphics side.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Hitman 2 at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not playably. The measured 4K averages are 27 FPS on Low, 21 FPS on Medium, 16 FPS on High, and 11 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Medium minimum is 17 FPS, which is far below smooth gameplay thresholds.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this system?

A: 1080p Medium is the only setting that achieves a 60 FPS average (60 FPS, min 51, max 69). 1080p Low reaches 80 FPS but with reduced visuals, while 1080p High drops to 46 FPS and Ultra to 34 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 is 1.3% slower than the GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% slower than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% slower than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% slower than the GT 710 (1443). All are within 3% performance.

Q: Is the CPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The Core Ultra 5 225 has 10 cores/10 threads with a 4.90 GHz boost clock and ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The measured FPS scaling with resolution changes indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: Low settings give 51 FPS average, Medium gives 39 FPS (min 33, max 44), High gives 29 FPS, and Ultra gives 21 FPS. Only Low approaches playability at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank overall in Hitman 2?

A: It ranks 2662nd out of 3001 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations in the benchmark database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 80 FPS average, Medium delivers 60 FPS average (min 51, max 69), High delivers 46 FPS average, and Ultra delivers 34 FPS average. This resolution is the only one where the combo achieves playable frame rates across all settings, with Medium being the only preset to hit 60 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, Low delivers 51 FPS average, Medium delivers 39 FPS average (min 33, max 44), High delivers 29 FPS average, and Ultra delivers 21 FPS average. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 36-38% performance across all settings, consistent with the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, Low delivers 27 FPS average, Medium delivers 21 FPS average (min 17, max 24), High delivers 16 FPS average, and Ultra delivers 11 FPS average. The 4K results show a 65-68% performance loss versus 1080p, indicating the GPU's pixel throughput ceiling is hit hard at this resolution.

The min/max data is only available for Medium settings across all resolutions: 1080p (51-69), 1440p (33-44), and 4K (17-24). These ranges suggest frame time variance increases with resolution, with the 4K Medium showing a 7 FPS spread that represents a 33% fluctuation—noticeable as stutter.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread Arrow Lake-S processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost of 4.90 GHz. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 20 MB shared L3. The CPU supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, which is shared with the integrated Arc B390 for graphics memory. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 25891 multi-core and 3655 single-core, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 30459 and single-thread score of 4412.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is largely secondary because the GPU bottleneck dominates. The 85th-percentile CPU ranking (average benchmark score 36938) means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, and its nearest rivals—Ryzen 5 5600F (36945, 0% delta), Ryzen 5 5500X3D (37018, -0.2%), Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (37093, -0.4%), and Core i9-12900T (37112, -0.5%)—are all within 0.5% in average CPU score. This indicates the CPU is capable of handling Hitman 2's stealth gameplay logic, AI, and physics without being a limiting factor.

The 10 threads (matching 10 cores) mean no hyperthreading, but Hitman 2's engine from 2018 does not heavily utilize many threads. The CPU's high single-thread performance (3655 in R23 single-core) is more relevant for this game's main-thread-heavy rendering tasks. However, the measured FPS data shows that when resolution drops to 1080p Low (80 FPS), the CPU still doesn't bottleneck—the system reaches a frame rate that is likely GPU-limited given the Arc B390's low 9th-percentile standing. The CPU's 20 MB L3 cache and 3 MB L2 per core provide ample bandwidth for game data, and the 65W TDP with 3nm process (17,800 million transistors, 243 mm² die) ensures efficient operation.

The CPU's release date of 2025-01-06 and launch MSRP of $246 position it as a modern mid-range part, but its performance in this combo is entirely masked by the GPU. Benchmark results indicate that users would see massive improvements from any discrete GPU, as the CPU has headroom to feed significantly faster graphics hardware. The system's 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, while adequate for CPU tasks, becomes the shared-memory bottleneck for the GPU at higher resolutions—this is why 4K performance collapses regardless of settings.