Hitman 2

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER pairing delivers a solid foundation for Hitman 2, a 2018 stealth game that remains demanding at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear scaling pattern across settings and resolutions, with the combo ranking in the 84th percentile among all tested CPU-GPU pairings. This analysis breaks down the data into practical guidance.

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate can I expect at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 110 FPS. This is the highest settings preset tested at 1080p, and it still delivers a smooth experience well above 60 FPS, though it is less than half of the 263 FPS seen at Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 12 GB VRAM affect Hitman 2 performance?

A: The 12 GB GDDR6X memory, paired with a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is sufficient for all tested presets. The data shows no VRAM-related stutters or performance cliffs, even at 3840x2160 Ultra, where the average is 37 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 a bottleneck at lower resolutions?

A: The CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads, with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, appear to keep up at 1080p. At Low settings, the combo reaches 263 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU adequately in this game, though the GPU still dominates the workload.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings balance for a 60 FPS target?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 126 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 70 FPS. For a strict 60 FPS cap, 3840x2160 Medium (67 FPS) is the only 4K preset above that threshold, making 1440p Ultra the better quality-per-frame option.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 499th out of 3001 combos, placing it in the top 16.6% of all tested pairings. This places it ahead of the majority of systems, though not in the top tier.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU more heavily across the measured presets?

A: The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution suggests a GPU-bound workload. For instance, at 1920x1080, Low produces 263 FPS, but Ultra only 110 FPS, a 58% drop that aligns with GPU shading and memory load rather than CPU limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. For Hitman 2, this configuration is more than sufficient, as the game’s AI and simulation tasks rarely stress more than a handful of threads.

Benchmark data shows the CPU’s multi-threaded capability: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 14769 points, while single-core scores 2085. PassMark multithread reaches 37816, and single-thread 4516. The 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates strong overall performance. In Hitman 2, the CPU’s single-core speed matters most for physics and game logic, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures minimal bottlenecking.

At 1920x1080 Low, the combo produces 263 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU can handle frame generation well above typical refresh rates. The 14 threads are likely underutilized, but the high boost clock compensates. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as even at 3840x2160 Ultra (37 FPS), the GPU is clearly the constraint.

The CPU’s memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game’s data streaming. The 24 MB L3 cache helps with repeated asset access, though Hitman 2’s levels are not particularly cache-hungry. The processor’s integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 24EU is irrelevant for this discrete GPU setup, but its presence adds flexibility.

The nearest rival comparisons show the Ultra 5 235 is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% slower). This places it in a competitive mid-range desktop tier, though those rivals are mobile or server parts. For Hitman 2, the CPU’s real-world impact is minimal compared to the GPU, as the measured FPS differences across presets are dominated by GPU load.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 499 out of 3001 tested configurations places this system in the 83.4th percentile overall. This means it outperforms roughly five out of six tested combos, which is a strong result for a mid-range desktop pairing. The rank is influenced by both the CPU’s 89th percentile and the GPU’s 83rd percentile standings, with the GPU being the more limiting component in this game.

The RTX 4070 SUPER’s percentile against all GPUs is 83, and its average benchmark score of 43223 is just below the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, -0.1%) and the RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1%). The closest rival above is the RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, -1%), showing the desktop 4070 SUPER is within 1% of a mobile flagship. This explains why the combo ranks high but not top-tier—there are simply faster GPUs available.

In Hitman 2 specifically, the rank reflects the game’s moderate GPU demands. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 110 FPS, which is excellent for a stealth game that doesn't require competitive-level frame rates. The 1440p Ultra score of 70 FPS is also strong, and even 4K Medium at 67 FPS is playable. These results indicate that the combo rank is well-earned, with no weak spots in the tested matrix.

The gap between this combo and higher-ranked ones likely comes from GPUs with more raw compute, such as the RTX 4090 Mobile’s 43667 average score. However, in practical terms, the 4070 SUPER delivers smooth gameplay across all settings except 4K Ultra, which falls to 37 FPS. The rank of 499 suggests that users with 1440p monitors will find this combo exceptionally well-suited, while 4K users will need to compromise on settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 263 FPS on Low, 197 FPS on Medium (with a min of 168 and max of 227), 149 FPS on High, and 110 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows the only min/max data at this resolution, indicating a stable frame delivery with a 59 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. The jump from Low to Medium is a 25% reduction, while from High to Ultra is 26%, showing consistent scaling.

At 2560x1440, the numbers drop predictably: Low yields 168 FPS, Medium 126 FPS (min 107, max 145), High 95 FPS, and Ultra 70 FPS. The Medium preset’s min/max spread is 38 FPS, which is tighter than at 1080p, suggesting less variance at higher resolution. The transition from High to Ultra at 1440p is a 26% drop, identical to the 1080p percentage, indicating that the settings presets scale uniformly regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding: Low produces 90 FPS, Medium 67 FPS (min 57, max 77), High 51 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a 20 FPS spread between min and max, which is the smallest absolute variance in the dataset, but the lowest average still above 60 FPS. High and Ultra at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making them less ideal for smooth gameplay.

The data reveals that the combo can handle 4K only at Low (90 FPS) or Medium (67 FPS) settings. For 1440p, all presets are playable, with Ultra at 70 FPS providing a good balance. At 1080p, even Ultra exceeds 100 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high refresh rate monitors. The lack of min/max data for most presets means we only have averages, but the Medium presets show that frame pacing is consistent, with no severe stutters indicated.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process. It has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines. Its base clock is 1980 MHz with a boost of 2475 MHz, and memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this class.

For Hitman 2, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized at Low settings (263 FPS), but at Ultra (110 FPS), it is working harder. The 12 GB VRAM is more than enough for this game, as even 4K Ultra doesn’t exceed typical VRAM usage of 6-8 GB, leaving headroom for other applications.

The 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores are present but mostly unused in Hitman 2, which does not employ ray tracing. The FP32 performance of 35.48 TFLOPS ensures strong rasterization throughput. The pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s are sufficient to fill the screen at 4K, though the 37 FPS Ultra result shows the limits of this GPU at that resolution.

Comparing to rivals, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s average score of 43223 is nearly identical to the Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262, -0.1%) and RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1%). The RTX 4090 Mobile is 1% faster (43667), which means the desktop 4070 SUPER is essentially in the same performance tier as a mobile flagship. This explains why 4K performance is modest—the GPU is a solid 1440p card with acceptable 4K at reduced settings.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s is not a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, but at 4K, the 192-bit bus shows its limits. The 4K Ultra average of 37 FPS is likely constrained by both shading and memory bandwidth. However, the Medium preset at 4K (67 FPS) proves that lowering settings can alleviate the bandwidth pressure, making the game playable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on your target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset at 110 FPS is the best choice, as it delivers a smooth experience on any monitor up to 100 Hz. If you have a 144 Hz display, dropping to High (149 FPS) will maximize refresh rate utilization, but the visual difference between High and Ultra is minor. The Low preset at 263 FPS is only useful for extreme competitive play, which is irrelevant for a stealth game.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset at 70 FPS is the sweet spot. It provides a 26% drop from High (95 FPS) but adds the highest quality shadows, reflections, and textures. The 70 FPS average is above the 60 FPS target and will look fluid on most monitors. If you prefer a higher frame rate for a 144 Hz panel, Medium at 126 FPS is the best option, though you lose some visual fidelity. The Medium preset’s min of 107 FPS ensures no drops below 100 FPS, making it a safe choice.

For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 67 FPS is the only playable option above 60 FPS. Low at 90 FPS is also viable for higher refresh rates, but the visual quality hit is significant. High at 51 FPS and Ultra at 37 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold and will feel less smooth, especially in fast-moving scenes. The Medium preset’s min of 57 FPS indicates occasional dips below 60, but the average holds up.

The overall recommendation is to prioritize 1440p Ultra for the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the combo delivers 70 FPS with no major frame drops. For 4K users, Medium is the only preset that meets the 60 FPS standard, and even then, expect occasional dips. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, with 1080p offering headroom for high refresh rates and 4K requiring compromises. The lack of min/max data for most presets means we cannot assess frame pacing beyond Medium, but the available numbers suggest consistent delivery.