Hitman 2

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread desktop processor built on the Arrow Lake architecture (Arrow Lake-S) and fabricated on a 3 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, and it carries a 65 W TDP. The chip includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache, with 192 KB of L1 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The CPU connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU itself, and it integrates an Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 24EU iGPU, though the discrete RTX 4060 handles rendering in this dataset.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Core Ultra 5 235 shows a balanced profile. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 14769, while the single-core score is 2085. The PassMark multi-thread score is 37816, and single-thread is 4516. The average benchmark score across all tests is 46062, which places the chip in the 89th percentile of all CPUs tested. Relative to its nearest rivals, the data shows a tight cluster: the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030 (0.1% behind), the Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098 (0.1% ahead), and the AMD EPYC 4364P and EPYC 7303 score 45970 and 45960 respectively (both 0.2% behind). This means the Core Ultra 5 235 sits essentially at parity with those parts in aggregate CPU performance, with deltas under a quarter of a percent.

For Hitman 2, a stealth game that relies on CPU-driven AI, NPC pathfinding, and scene simulation, the 14-core configuration with 14 threads (no hyperthreading) is more than sufficient for the game's 2018-era engine. The single-core performance, as reflected by the 2085 R23 single-core score, is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking at lower resolutions where frame rates are high. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 171 FPS, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately even at high frame rates. The 24 MB L3 cache helps with the game's level data, which often involves large, detailed environments with many interactive objects. The multi-threaded scores indicate that even if the game were to scale across cores, the CPU has headroom; the PassMark physics score of 2570 and integer math score of 87948 point to solid compute capacity for game logic.

However, the CPU's role becomes less critical as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 24, which is far below what the CPU's single-thread capabilities would suggest as a limit. That indicates the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher settings and resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 171 FPS vs 72 FPS, a 99 FPS spread. That spread is larger than what the CPU alone would cause, meaning the graphics settings are driving the change. The CPU's job is to maintain a stable baseline, and the measured minimum FPS values (109 at 1080p Medium, 70 at 1440p Medium, 37 at 4K Medium) show that even at lower average FPS, the frame pacing remains consistent enough for a stealth game where sudden drops could be jarring.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and the user's preference for visual fidelity versus frame rate. At 1080p, the High preset yields 97 FPS average, which is smooth for a stealth game that doesn't require esports-level refresh rates. The Low preset produces 171 FPS, which is overkill for most displays but useful for high-refresh monitors. The Medium preset sits at 129 FPS, with a minimum of 109 and maximum of 148, offering a good balance of responsiveness and visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1080p delivers 72 FPS, which is playable but starts to approach the threshold where fast camera movements might feel slightly less fluid.

For 1440p, the High preset gives 62 FPS, which is acceptable for a game like Hitman 2 where precise aiming is less critical than in a twitch shooter. Low at 1440p delivers 110 FPS, which is excellent. Medium at 1440p produces 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 and maximum of 95, making it a solid choice for those who want better visuals without sacrificing smoothness. Ultra at 1440p drops to 46 FPS, which may feel sluggish during crowded scenes with many NPCs.

At 4K, the options are more constrained. Low settings yield 58 FPS, which is just barely playable. Medium settings drop to 44 FPS with a minimum of 37 and maximum of 50, meaning there will be noticeable stutter in busy areas. High settings at 4K produce 33 FPS, which is marginal. Ultra at 4K is 24 FPS, which is effectively a slideshow for interactive gameplay.

The best experience per the measured rows, balancing frame rate and visual quality, is Medium settings at 1080p (129 FPS) or 1440p (82 FPS). The Medium preset at 1080p provides a 109 FPS minimum, ensuring no dips below 60 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 70 FPS minimum keeps the experience above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the time. For users with 4K displays, the Low preset at 58 FPS is the only option that stays near playable, but the Medium preset at 44 FPS might be acceptable for a slower-paced stealth game if the user prioritizes visuals. The data suggests that Ultra is not recommended at any resolution: 72 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K all represent significant drops from the Medium preset without a proportional visual gain that would justify the frame rate loss.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of scaling as resolution increases. At Medium settings, the average FPS at 1080p is 129, at 1440p it is 82, and at 4K it is 44. That represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. For High settings, the progression is 97 FPS at 1080p, 62 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, with drops of 36% and 47% respectively. Low settings show 171 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p, and 58 FPS at 4K, with drops of 36% and 47% as well. Ultra settings show 72 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, with drops of 36% and 48%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is notable. Whether the preset is Low or Ultra, the resolution scaling penalty is roughly the same. This indicates that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU's workload (game logic, AI, physics) does not change with resolution. Instead, the FPS drops proportionally to the pixel count increase. The 4K resolution has 4 times the pixels of 1080p, and the FPS at 4K Medium (44) is roughly one-third of the 1080p Medium (129). That inverse relationship between pixel count and frame rate is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

The RTX 4060's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory also play a role. At 4K, the game's asset streaming and texture caching require more memory bandwidth, and the 128-bit bus width may be a limiting factor. The GPU's boost clock is 2460 MHz, and it has 3072 shading units, but the pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are moderate for 4K workloads. The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra (24 FPS), which is likely due to the combination of pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints. The CPU's 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth is not the issue here, as the GPU's memory subsystem is the one handling the frame buffer.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 in Hitman 2 ranks 1606 out of 3001 tested combos. This places it in the 53rd percentile of all combos tested for this game. The rank is based on the measured FPS data, which includes the average FPS across all resolutions and settings.

A rank in the middle of the pack suggests that this combination is neither exceptional nor poor for Hitman 2. The RTX 4060's percentileVsAllGpus score is 61, meaning it outperforms 61% of GPUs in the database. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 89, meaning it outperforms 89% of CPUs. However, the combo rank of 1606/3001 is lower than either component's individual percentile would suggest. This is likely because Hitman 2 is a game that rewards GPU capability more than CPU capability, and the RTX 4060, while decent, is not a high-end GPU. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (0.2% ahead in average score), AMD Radeon 780M (0.3% behind), and AMD Radeon Pro 560 (0.5% behind), which are all older or lower-tier parts. This indicates that the RTX 4060, in the context of the full GPU benchmark suite, is positioned as a mid-range part.

The combo rank being in the middle of the pack means that for Hitman 2, there are 1605 combos that perform better and 1395 that perform worse. The ranking is likely driven by the GPU's performance at 4K, where the RTX 4060 struggles (24 FPS at Ultra). At 1080p, the combo performs well (171 FPS at Low), which would place it higher in a ranking that weights lower resolutions more heavily. But the overall rank includes all resolutions, and the 4K data drags it down. The data suggests that users with this combo should target 1080p or 1440p for the best experience, as the 4K results are not competitive with higher-tier GPU combos.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is based on the AD107 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1830 MHz, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. Memory runs at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The GPU has 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 24 RT cores, and 96 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 236.2 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 15.11 TFLOPS (1:1). The TDP is 115 W, with a dual-slot cooler and a single 12-pin power connector, requiring a 300 W suggested PSU. The card uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is dominant, as evidenced by the resolution scaling analysis. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the game's high-resolution textures may approach the memory limit. The measured FPS at 4K Medium is 44, with a minimum of 37, which suggests that the GPU is not only fill-rate limited but also potentially memory-bandwidth limited. The 128-bit bus width and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest for 4K, where the frame buffer requires more data throughput.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. The PassMark G3D score is 19545, and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2302. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 95057, and Vulkan is 48643. The PassMark DirectX 11 score is 175, DirectX 12 is 76, and DirectX 10 is 103. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 61, and its average benchmark score is 17639. Nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666, 0.2% ahead), AMD Radeon 780M (17588, 0.3% behind), and AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17551, 0.5% behind). These rivals are all substantially older or integrated parts, which indicates that the RTX 4060's raw compute is solid, but its memory subsystem (8 GB, 128-bit) limits its performance in modern games at high resolutions.

For Hitman 2 specifically, the GPU's performance at 1080p is strong (171 FPS at Low, 129 FPS at Medium). The boost clock of 2460 MHz helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1440p, the GPU still performs well (110 FPS at Low, 82 FPS at Medium). The drop at 4K is significant, with the GPU unable to sustain 60 FPS even at Low settings (58 FPS). This pattern aligns with the GPU's bandwidth and ROP count (48), which are typical for a mid-range card. The RTX 4060 is not designed for 4K gaming, and the data confirms this.

FAQ

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

A: The average FPS is 129, with a minimum of 109 and a maximum of 148.

Q: Can this combo run Hitman 2 at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: At 4K Low settings, the average FPS is 58, which is borderline playable. At 4K Medium, it drops to 44 FPS with a minimum of 37. Ultra settings at 4K yield only 24 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: How does the CPU compare to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, while the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 scores 46030, making the Intel part 0.1% higher.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s and an effective memory clock of 17 Gbps.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combos in Hitman 2?

A: The combo ranks 1606 out of 3001 tested combos.

Q: At which resolution does the FPS drop below 60 FPS on High settings?

A: At 1440p High, the average FPS is 62, which is above 60. At 4K High, the average FPS is 33, which is well below 60. So the drop below 60 FPS on High settings occurs between 1440p and 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data is organized by resolution and settings preset. All values are average FPS unless noted otherwise.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 171 FPS average
• Medium: 129 FPS average, 109 FPS minimum, 148 FPS maximum
• High: 97 FPS average
• Ultra: 72 FPS average

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 110 FPS average
• Medium: 82 FPS average, 70 FPS minimum, 95 FPS maximum
• High: 62 FPS average
• Ultra: 46 FPS average

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 58 FPS average
• Medium: 44 FPS average, 37 FPS minimum, 50 FPS maximum
• High: 33 FPS average
• Ultra: 24 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: at each resolution, the Low preset delivers the highest FPS, followed by Medium, then High, then Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with measured minimum and maximum values, providing a frame time range. At 1080p Medium, the spread from minimum to maximum is 39 FPS (109 to 148). At 1440p Medium, the spread is 25 FPS (70 to 95). At 4K Medium, the spread is 13 FPS (37 to 50). This suggests that as resolution increases, the frame rate variation narrows, which is consistent with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck and smoothing out CPU-induced frame time spikes.

The FPS differences between settings are substantial. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 99 FPS (171 vs 72). At 1440p, the difference is 64 FPS (110 vs 46). At 4K, the difference is 34 FPS (58 vs 24). The absolute difference shrinks as resolution increases, but the percentage difference remains similar. This reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the combo at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset at 4K (24 FPS) is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, indicating that this combo is not suitable for max settings at 4K. Conversely, the 1080p Low result of 171 FPS is the highest measured value, showing that the combo has headroom for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions.