Hitman 2

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a playable but constrained Hitman 2 experience, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. Benchmark results show that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS, while 1440p requires a settings reduction to Low for smooth gameplay, and 4K remains largely impractical. The measured data indicates that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and Turing architecture are the limiting factors, as the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance is more than adequate for this stealth title.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings preset for this combo is Medium at 1080p, which delivers an average of 99 FPS with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. This preset provides a 24 FPS improvement over High settings (75 FPS) while maintaining a framerate well above the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so without the performance cliff seen at Ultra (55 FPS). The minimum FPS of 84 ensures that even during dense crowd scenes or explosions, the framerate remains fluid, making this the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for the RTX 2060.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, Low at 1080p yields 132 FPS average, which is a 33% increase over Medium. However, the visual downgrade in a game that relies on environmental detail for stealth mechanics—such as spotting guards through foliage or reading room layouts—makes this preset less advisable. The Medium preset’s 99 FPS is already sufficiently high for a 60 Hz or even a 144 Hz display, and the extra shadows and texture quality help with gameplay readability.

At 1440p, the only viable preset is Low, which produces 84 FPS average. The Medium preset drops to 63 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge, while High falls to 48 FPS and Ultra to 35 FPS. Given that the data shows a 21 FPS gap between Low and Medium at this resolution, choosing Low is the safe recommendation for maintaining a consistent experience. The 84 FPS at 1440p Low is respectable, but the visual compromise is significant; users should consider whether native 1440p with reduced settings is preferable to 1080p Medium with higher detail.

4K is not recommended for this combo. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 45 FPS on Low, which barely reaches playability, while Medium drops to 34 FPS and High to 25 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces a dismal 19 FPS average. No settings preset at 4K achieves the 60 FPS target, and even the 45 FPS on Low will feel stuttery in a game that rewards precise timing and observation. Users with a 4K display should instead run the game at 1080p or 1440p and rely on the display’s upscaling.

In summary, the data strongly favors 1080p Medium as the default recommendation, with 1440p Low as a secondary option for those with higher-resolution monitors who can tolerate reduced visual quality. The measured FPS deltas between presets show that the RTX 2060 has a narrow operating window: it can handle Medium at 1080p comfortably, but any increase in resolution or settings beyond that quickly exposes its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance. Specifically, the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and multi-core score of 25891 suggest that this CPU has ample headroom for gaming workloads, which typically rely more on single-threaded performance.

In Hitman 2, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the framerate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 132 FPS, which is close to what the RTX 2060 can physically output. The CPU’s 10 cores and 10 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s AI and physics calculations, which are not particularly demanding for a 2018 title. The PassMark single-thread score of 4412 and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 368 indicate that the Ultra 5 225 can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

However, the CPU’s performance does not rescue the combo at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 19, which is a direct reflection of the GPU’s inability to process the increased pixel count. The CPU’s multi-threaded performance, while strong (Cinebench R23 multi-core 25891), does not compensate for the RTX 2060’s 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The data shows that the framerate drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly linear with the pixel count increase, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support provide sufficient data throughput for Hitman 2’s streaming environments. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps with level loading and asset streaming, though this is unlikely to be a noticeable factor given the GPU bottleneck. In synthetic benchmarks, the Ultra 5 225 sits within 0.5% of rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core i9-12900T (deltaPct -0.5), meaning its performance is comparable to established gaming CPUs. This parity confirms that the CPU is not holding back the RTX 2060 in any meaningful way.

The CPU’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz is particularly relevant for Hitman 2, which has a single-threaded render thread. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 places it in a high tier, and the PassMark single-thread score of 4412 reinforces that the CPU can maintain high IPC under load. In practice, this means that when the GPU is not saturated (e.g., at 1080p Low), the CPU can push framerates higher, as seen in the 132 FPS result. But once the resolution increases and the GPU becomes the constraint, the CPU’s advantages become moot.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p on this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. This is the highest preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, as High drops to 75 FPS and Ultra to 55 FPS.

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

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 45 on Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS target. Medium averages 34 FPS, High averages 25 FPS, and Ultra averages 19 FPS. None of these are playable for a smooth experience.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck for this combo?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p. The RTX 2060’s performance drops from 75 FPS at 1080p High to 48 FPS at 1440p High, a 36% reduction, while the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 3655) is sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15283, deltaPct 0) and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon 680M (15270, deltaPct 0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15199, deltaPct 0.6). Its percentile ranking is 58th among all GPUs.

Q: What is the framerate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low averages 84 FPS, while Ultra averages 35 FPS. That is a 49 FPS difference, or a 58% reduction in performance. Medium averages 63 FPS and High averages 48 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s core count matter for Hitman 2?

A: The CPU has 10 cores and 10 threads, which is more than sufficient for Hitman 2. The game’s performance is more dependent on single-threaded speed, where the CPU’s 4.90 GHz boost clock and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 provide ample headroom. The framerate results at 1080p Low (132 FPS) confirm the CPU is not limiting.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 2360 out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the bottom 21% of all systems. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU’s age and performance tier, as the RTX 2060’s percentile ranking against all GPUs is just 58th, meaning it trails a significant portion of modern graphics cards. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 85th percentile, so the combo’s poor standing is almost entirely a GPU limitation.

The ranking of 2360 indicates that most other tested combos achieve higher average framerates in this game. For context, the RTX 2060’s synthetic benchmark average score of 15290 is within 0.8% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15171, deltaPct 0.8), yet the RX 7600 is a more recent card with better driver optimization for newer titles. In Hitman 2 specifically, the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM may cause texture thrashing at Ultra settings, further reducing its competitiveness.

This combo’s rank is also influenced by the CPU’s performance class. While the Ultra 5 225 is a capable processor, its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (deltaPct 0), AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (deltaPct -0.2), and Intel Core i9-12900T (deltaPct -0.5)—are all within 0.5% of its average score. This means that swapping the CPU for any of these would not materially change the Hitman 2 ranking, as the GPU would still be the limiting factor.

The data shows that combos ranked above 2360 typically feature GPUs with higher FP32 compute or more VRAM. For example, the RTX 2060’s 6.451 TFLOPS is substantially lower than modern mid-range cards, and its 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is insufficient for 4K textures. The combo’s rank of 2360 out of 3001 suggests that users are getting a below-average experience, but one that is still playable at 1080p with careful settings selection.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend: framerates drop dramatically as resolution increases, confirming that the RTX 2060 is the bottleneck. At 1080p High, the combo averages 75 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average falls to 48 FPS, a 36% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 25 FPS, an additional 48% drop from 1440p. This scaling is consistent with the GPU’s pixel throughput limitations, as the RTX 2060’s fill rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are not sufficient for higher resolutions.

The same pattern holds across all settings presets. At Low settings, 1080p yields 132 FPS, 1440p yields 84 FPS (a 36% drop), and 4K yields 45 FPS (a 46% drop from 1440p). At Medium settings, the averages are 99 FPS (1080p), 63 FPS (1440p), and 34 FPS (4K), representing a 36% and 46% drop respectively. This consistent scaling suggests that the GPU’s compute units are saturated at 1440p and beyond, and that the CPU is not contributing to the framerate decline.

The resolution scaling also highlights the VRAM limitation. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 19 FPS, which is likely due to the 6 GB frame buffer being exceeded, causing texture swapping. The RTX 2060’s memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is also a constraint, as higher resolutions require more data to be transferred per frame. The 19 FPS at 4K Ultra is the lowest measured result, and it is 58% lower than the 45 FPS at 4K Low, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional texture and shadow quality pushes the GPU past its limits.

The data suggests that the limiting component is unambiguously the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see framerates plateau at lower resolutions, but instead the 1080p Low result of 132 FPS shows the CPU can push far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. The 4K results, which are all below 45 FPS, demonstrate that the RTX 2060 cannot handle the pixel count, regardless of the CPU’s capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 132 FPS. This is the highest framerate recorded for this combo, showing the CPU’s ability to drive the GPU to its limits.
• Medium: Average 99 FPS, with a minimum of 84 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. This preset offers a 33 FPS reduction from Low but maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.
• High: Average 75 FPS. A 24 FPS drop from Medium, indicating that the High preset’s increased shadow and texture quality taxes the GPU more heavily.
• Ultra: Average 55 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS target, and the 20 FPS drop from High suggests that Ultra’s additional effects (such as ambient occlusion and higher draw distances) are too demanding for the RTX 2060.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 84 FPS. This is the only preset at 1440p that remains comfortably above 60 FPS, though the visual quality is significantly reduced.
• Medium: Average 63 FPS, with a minimum of 54 FPS and a maximum of 73 FPS. The minimum FPS of 54 is below 60, meaning there may be occasional stutters in busy scenes.
• High: Average 48 FPS. A 15 FPS drop from Medium, making this preset playable only on a 48 Hz display or with adaptive sync.
• Ultra: Average 35 FPS. This is a 28 FPS drop from Low, and the framerate is too low for smooth gameplay.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 45 FPS. This is the highest result at 4K, but it is still below the 60 FPS target. The visual quality is poor, with reduced textures and shadows.
• Medium: Average 34 FPS, with a minimum of 29 FPS and a maximum of 39 FPS. The minimum FPS of 29 indicates significant framerate dips.
• High: Average 25 FPS. This is barely playable, and the low framerate would make stealth gameplay frustrating.
• Ultra: Average 19 FPS. This is the lowest measured result, and the game is effectively unplayable at this preset.

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, 1440p Low is the fallback, and 4K is not viable for any settings preset. The minimum FPS values, where available, show that the Medium presets have the tightest framerate ranges (e.g., 84-114 FPS at 1080p), indicating more consistent performance, while the Low presets have higher averages but potentially larger dips. The Ultra presets consistently produce sub-60 FPS results across all resolutions, confirming that the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 6.451 TFLOPS compute are insufficient for the game’s highest visual quality.