Hitman 2

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Hitman 2, though 4K Ultra proves too demanding for smooth play. The measured data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling where resolution increases cause proportional frame rate drops, while the CPU’s strong single-thread performance keeps high-refresh 1080p gaming viable. This pairing ranks in the 716th position out of 3001 tested combos, placing it firmly in the upper quarter of all configurations, which aligns with its ability to maintain high frame rates at mainstream resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound workload in Hitman 2. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 134 at 1920x1080 to 86 at 2560x1440—a 36% reduction—and then falls further to 46 at 3840x2160, representing an additional 47% decline from 1440p. This steep drop-off pattern indicates that the RTX 4070’s rendering pipeline becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, with the CPU’s contribution diminishing at higher resolutions.

The scaling behavior becomes more pronounced at Ultra settings. The average frame rate at 1080p Ultra is 99 FPS, which drops to 63 FPS at 1440p (a 36% decrease) and plummets to 34 FPS at 4K (a 46% decline from 1440p). This consistent ~35-47% reduction per resolution step suggests the GPU is operating near its architectural limits when processing the game’s complex lighting and shadow calculations at maximum quality presets.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling tells a different story. The 1080p Low average of 236 FPS drops to 151 FPS at 1440p—a 36% reduction—and then to 81 FPS at 4K, which is a 46% decline. While the percentage drops mirror the High settings pattern, the absolute frame rates remain much higher, indicating that even at 4K Low, the GPU still has headroom to deliver playable performance. The fact that 4K Low (81 FPS) outperforms 4K High (46 FPS) by a factor of 1.76 suggests that the game’s quality presets have a significant impact on the GPU’s workload distribution.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data with min and max FPS values, offering insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the average is 177 FPS with a range of 151 to 204 FPS, creating a 53 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 113 FPS with a 96 to 130 FPS range (34 FPS spread), and at 4K Medium, the average is 60 FPS with a 51 to 69 FPS range (18 FPS spread). The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated, reducing the variance that CPU-related frame time spikes might otherwise introduce.

The limiting component analysis points strongly toward the GPU as the primary constraint at 1440p and 4K. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 single-core result of 2085 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4516, indicate it has ample headroom for game logic and draw calls. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 236 FPS—well beyond typical 144Hz monitor refresh rates—suggests the CPU can feed frames quickly, but the GPU cannot maintain that output as resolution scales up. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth become increasingly taxed at 4K, where the higher pixel count demands more texture data and framebuffer operations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070’s specifications directly influence its Hitman 2 performance. The GPU features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, with a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. These clock speeds are critical because Hitman 2’s engine scales well with raw shader throughput, and the boost clock allows the GPU to sustain high frequencies under load, as evidenced by the 1080p High average of 134 FPS.

The memory configuration plays a significant role in higher resolution performance. The 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer, running at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth across a 192-bit bus. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 34 FPS, which suggests the GPU is hitting both compute and memory bandwidth limits simultaneously. The 4K Medium result of 60 FPS with a 51 to 69 FPS range indicates that reducing quality settings helps alleviate memory pressure, allowing the GPU to maintain steadier frame pacing.

The RTX 4070’s Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC’s 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, provides 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw compute power directly translates to the game’s lighting and shadow calculations, which are particularly demanding in Hitman 2’s large, open-ended levels. The GPU’s 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are present, though Hitman 2’s traditional rasterization approach means these specialized units see less utilization than in newer titles.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 81 against all GPUs, combined with an average benchmark score of 37648, places it near the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, 0.1% delta) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.4% delta). However, the RTX 4070 pulls ahead of the RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, -1.3% delta) in this comparison, though that mobile part’s lower thermal envelope likely explains the margin. The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157, 1.3% delta) trails by a similar margin, but these benchmark deltas are small, suggesting the RTX 4070 sits in a competitive performance bracket for its class.

The GPU’s power characteristics—a 200 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU—are worth noting for system integration, though the actual frame rate data shows the card delivers strong 1080p and 1440p results without requiring exotic cooling. The dual-slot design and 240 mm length make it compatible with most mid-tower cases, and the 1x 16-pin power connector simplifies cabling.

FAQ

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

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 81. At Medium, the average drops to 60 FPS with a min of 51, which is borderline playable. High settings yield 46 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 34 FPS, neither of which provides smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this pairing?

A: 2560x1440 offers the best balance. At High settings, the average is 86 FPS, and at Medium, it reaches 113 FPS with a 96-130 FPS range. This provides a smooth experience without the frame rate volatility seen at 1080p or the performance collapse at 4K.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides sufficient single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085) to support high frame rates. The 1080p Low average of 236 FPS indicates the CPU can feed frames far beyond typical display refresh rates, so the GPU remains the limiting factor even at this resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM sufficient for Hitman 2?

A: Yes. The game was released in 2018, and the 12 GB GDDR6X frame buffer with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is more than adequate for all settings and resolutions tested. The 4K Ultra result of 34 FPS is limited by compute throughput rather than memory capacity, as reducing to Low settings at 4K more than doubles the frame rate to 81 FPS.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average is 99 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play but below the 144 FPS that high-refresh monitors can display, so users with 144Hz displays may want to use High settings (134 FPS average) or Medium (177 FPS average) to fully utilize their display.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 716 out of 3001 combos, placing it in the top 24% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects strong overall performance, though it is not at the extreme high end where top-tier GPUs with flagship CPUs would reside.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves a 236 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded. The Medium preset follows at 177 FPS with a 151-204 FPS range, then High at 134 FPS, and finally Ultra at 99 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 58% reduction in frame rate, showing the significant cost of quality enhancements at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 151 FPS average, which remains highly playable. Medium produces 113 FPS with a 96-130 FPS range, High drops to 86 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63 FPS. The 1440p results show that even Ultra settings maintain above 60 FPS, making this resolution viable for users who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rates.

The 3840x2160 results show a more challenging scenario. Low settings produce 81 FPS average, which is surprisingly playable given the pixel count. Medium drops to 60 FPS with a 51-69 FPS range, High falls to 46 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 47 FPS, representing a 58% reduction, similar to the percentage drop seen at 1080p but from a much lower starting point.

The Medium preset at each resolution provides the only min and max FPS data, allowing for frame time analysis. At 1080p Medium, the 151-204 FPS range creates a 35% variation from min to max, indicating occasional frame dips. At 1440p Medium, the 96-130 FPS range shows a 35% variation as well, while at 4K Medium, the 51-69 FPS range tightens to 35% variation. This consistency in relative spread suggests the game’s frame pacing remains stable across resolutions when using the Medium preset.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic performance cost relative to High. At 1080p, moving from High (134 FPS) to Ultra (99 FPS) costs 35 FPS, a 26% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is from 86 to 63 FPS, also a 27% reduction. At 4K, High (46 FPS) to Ultra (34 FPS) represents a 26% reduction. This consistent ~26% penalty for Ultra over High indicates that the Ultra preset adds a fixed amount of additional rendering work, likely from increased shadow resolution and ambient occlusion quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 716 out of 3001 tested configurations places this pairing in a strong position within the benchmark database. This rank reflects the combined capabilities of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 across the entire test suite, not just Hitman 2-specific results. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 46062 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, 0.1% delta) and Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, -0.1% delta). This tight grouping shows the Ultra 5 235 performs nearly identically to these established processors in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 37648 places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals being the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, 0.1% delta) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.4% delta). The RTX 4070’s slight edge over these older or more specialized parts confirms its competitiveness in the current GPU landscape, though the small delta percentages indicate the performance gap is minimal.

The combination of a top-quartile CPU and a top-quartile GPU results in a system that ranks in the 24th percentile overall. This suggests that while individual components are strong, there may be combinations of higher-end parts that achieve better overall scores. However, the Hitman 2-specific results show this pairing is well-balanced for this particular title, as evidenced by the strong 1080p and 1440p performance.

The rank position also implies that roughly 2285 tested combos perform worse, meaning this system outperforms the majority of configurations in the database. The gap to the top-ranked combos likely involves flagship GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX paired with top-tier CPUs, which would deliver higher frame rates at 4K Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p display, the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 134 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors and comes close to satisfying 144Hz displays. Users with 144Hz or higher refresh rate monitors should consider the Medium preset, which delivers 177 FPS average, ensuring frame rates stay above the display’s refresh rate even during demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the High preset with an 86 FPS average is the recommended starting point. This provides a substantial visual upgrade over the Medium preset (113 FPS) while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. For users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, the Medium preset’s 113 FPS average with a 96 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay even in the most complex areas of Hitman 2’s levels. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is playable but leaves little headroom for frame drops during intense action sequences.

For 4K displays, the Low preset at 81 FPS is the only setting that provides consistently smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 60 FPS average with a 51 FPS minimum is borderline, as dips below 60 FPS can be noticeable. The High preset at 46 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS are not recommended for playable experiences, as they fall below the threshold for smooth motion perception.

The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not worth the substantial frame rate cost at any resolution. The consistent ~26% performance penalty over High settings, combined with the subtle visual improvements in Hitman 2, makes High the optimal quality setting for this GPU. Users seeking maximum frame rates should drop to Medium, which provides a significant performance boost (32% at 1080p, 31% at 1440p, and 30% at 4K) over High while maintaining most visual quality.

The Medium preset’s min FPS values—151 at 1080p, 96 at 1440p, and 51 at 4K—indicate that this settings level offers the most consistent frame pacing. The 35% variation between min and max FPS across all resolutions suggests the game’s performance is stable when using Medium, making it the recommended preset for users who dislike frame rate fluctuations. For competitive play or high-refresh displays, Low settings at 1080p (236 FPS) or 1440p (151 FPS) provide the maximum possible frame rates, though the visual compromise may not be worth it for most players.