Hitman 2

# FAQ

Q: What is the combo rank for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER in Hitman 2?

A: This combination ranks 225th out of 3,001 tested combos in Hitman 2, placing it in the top 7.5% of all configurations tested for this game.

Q: What is the overall performance percentile for each component?

A: The CPU sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 86th percentile against all GPUs. This makes the pairing particularly well-balanced, as both components land within a similar performance tier.

Q: What is the best 4K result recorded for this combo?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the combo achieves 103 FPS on average. The High preset at 4K produces 58 FPS, while Medium yields 77 FPS and Ultra drops to 43 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 5 235 scores 46,062 on average, which is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46,030), 0.1% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46,098), and 0.2% ahead of both the AMD EPYC 4364P (45,970) and AMD EPYC 7303 (45,960).

Q: What memory bandwidth does this platform support?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. This is relevant to Hitman 2's performance, as the game's large open-ended levels benefit from sustained memory throughput.

Q: What is the GPU's average benchmark score and how does it compare to the RTX 4080 non-SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080's 54,247. This places the two cards effectively at parity in synthetic workloads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It carries 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's memory clock runs at 1438 MHz with 23 Gbps effective speed, while the GPU core operates between a 2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost clock. These specifications translate into a 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability, which matters for Hitman 2's lighting and shadow calculations.

The measured FPS data reveals how this GPU's memory subsystem influences performance. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 301 FPS, which is extraordinarily high and suggests the GPU is nowhere near its limits. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is ample for Hitman 2, as the game's texture streaming rarely exceeds 8 GB even at 4K Ultra. This means the RTX 4080 SUPER's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s becomes the more critical factor than capacity alone.

The GPU's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores contribute to the game's draw call handling and any ray-traced reflections, though Hitman 2's base release predates widespread ray tracing adoption. The 112 ROPs and 320 TMUs handle fill-rate intensive scenes well, which is why the card maintains playable framerates even at 4K Ultra with 43 FPS. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s suggest the card can process Hitman 2's detailed environments without texture thrashing.

Looking at the benchmark scores, the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 34,245 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,600 indicate strong rasterization performance. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 260,075 versus OpenCL's 219,065 shows the card responds well to low-level APIs, which aligns with Hitman 2's DirectX 12 mode. The card's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the game's asset streaming, and the 320 W TDP suggests power delivery is not a bottleneck in sustained gaming sessions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 225 out of 3,001 tested configurations places it firmly in the upper echelon of systems tested for Hitman 2. This ranking is notable because the CPU's 89th percentile and GPU's 86th percentile are not the absolute highest available, yet the pairing outperforms many combinations with individually stronger components. The data suggests that Hitman 2 responds well to balanced configurations where neither the CPU nor GPU creates a significant bottleneck.

The rank becomes more meaningful when considering the CPU's nearest rivals. The Core Ultra 5 235 sits within 0.2% of the AMD EPYC 7303 and EPYC 4364P in average benchmark scores, yet those server-class processors have different memory latencies and cache hierarchies. The 0.1% gap to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Core i9-13900HX shows that the Ultra 5 235 delivers comparable compute performance in a desktop form factor with a 65 W TDP.

For the GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER's nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 (0.1% higher score), Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% higher), Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.7% higher), and Radeon 8060S (2.8% higher). The small deltas to these competitors indicate that the 4080 SUPER is not a standout on paper, yet in Hitman 2 the combo still achieves top 7.5% placement. This points to driver optimization and game-specific compatibility rather than raw benchmark dominance.

The rank of 225 also implies that 2,776 other combos perform worse in Hitman 2, which is a substantial validation of this pairing for players seeking high-refresh-rate stealth gameplay. However, the rank also means 224 combos perform better, and the FPS data shows where those superior configurations likely excel: at 4K Ultra and 1440p Ultra where GPU load is highest. The measured results indicate that this combo's strength lies in mid-range settings where the balance between CPU and GPU utilization is most efficient.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 301 FPS on Low, 226 FPS on Medium, 171 FPS on High, and 126 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 192 FPS and maximum of 260 FPS, indicating a stable frame delivery with only 34 FPS of variance between the 1% lows and peaks. The gap from Low to Ultra is 175 FPS, which demonstrates that Hitman 2's settings scale significantly with GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the results show 192 FPS on Low, 144 FPS on Medium, 109 FPS on High, and 80 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again shows the full range: 123 FPS minimum, 166 FPS maximum, with a 43 FPS spread. The drop from Low to Ultra at this resolution is 112 FPS, which is a smaller absolute delta than at 1080p but represents a similar proportional reduction. The 1440p High setting at 109 FPS remains above the 100 FPS threshold, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the results shift dramatically: 103 FPS on Low, 77 FPS on Medium, 58 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 65 FPS and maximum of 88 FPS, with a 23 FPS variance. This is the tightest frame pacing across all tested settings, which is interesting because it suggests the GPU is consistently loaded at 4K Medium. The 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS falls below the 60 FPS standard, but the Low setting at 103 FPS shows the combo can handle 4K if visual fidelity is reduced.

The progression across resolutions reveals a pattern: 1080p Low to 4K Low results in a 198 FPS drop (from 301 to 103), while 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra results in an 83 FPS drop (from 126 to 43). This asymmetric scaling indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but the CPU still contributes meaningfully at 1080p where frame rates are extremely high.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows how the limiting component shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo achieves 301 FPS on Low, which is so high that the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads are likely the primary constraint. The Core Ultra 5 235's boost clock of 5.00 GHz and single-thread score of 2,085 in Cinebench R23 help drive these frame rates, but the lack of hyperthreading may become a factor at such extreme FPS levels.

Moving to 1440p, the FPS drops by 36% on Low (301 to 192), 36% on Medium (226 to 144), 36% on High (171 to 109), and 37% on Ultra (126 to 80). This consistent ~36% reduction across all settings suggests a uniform scaling factor tied to pixel count. The 1440p resolution has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and the observed FPS reduction is slightly less than the pixel increase would predict, indicating that the GPU is still not fully saturated at 1440p.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced. From 1440p to 4K, Low drops from 192 to 103 FPS (46% reduction), Medium from 144 to 77 (47% reduction), High from 109 to 58 (47% reduction), and Ultra from 80 to 43 (46% reduction). The 4K resolution has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, but the FPS reduction is only about half of what pure pixel-count scaling would suggest. This implies that the GPU is becoming the dominant constraint at 4K, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is being utilized more fully.

The most telling comparison is 1080p Ultra (126 FPS) versus 4K Ultra (43 FPS), a 66% reduction. This large drop indicates that at Ultra settings, the combination of resolution and graphical complexity exceeds what the GPU can sustain at high frame rates. Conversely, the 1080p Low to 4K Low drop of 66% (301 to 103 FPS) shows the same proportional loss, meaning the GPU's compute and memory resources scale consistently regardless of settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of which settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, the Medium preset at 226 FPS is the sweet spot, as it delivers 55 FPS more than High (171 FPS) while only sacrificing some visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 126 FPS remains above 120 FPS, making it viable for high-refresh-rate displays, but the 100 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra suggests diminishing returns.

At 1440p, the High preset at 109 FPS is the recommended setting for most players. It stays above the 100 FPS threshold while providing significantly better visuals than Medium (144 FPS). The Ultra preset at 80 FPS is playable but falls below the 100 FPS mark, which may be noticeable on 144 Hz monitors. The data shows that 1440p High provides the best compromise, with only a 35 FPS reduction from Medium but a substantial visual improvement.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 77 FPS is the optimal choice, as it maintains playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) while offering improved visuals over Low (103 FPS). The High preset at 58 FPS dips below 60 FPS, which can cause stutter on standard 60 Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 43 FPS should be avoided unless visual fidelity is prioritized over smoothness. The Medium preset's 65 FPS minimum and 88 FPS maximum show that frame pacing remains stable even in demanding scenes.

The overall recommendation across all resolutions is to use the Medium preset for the best combination of performance and visual quality. At 1080p and 1440p, players can consider High or Ultra if they have high-refresh-rate monitors and prefer visual fidelity, but the Medium preset's consistent frame delivery (as shown by the min/max data) makes it the safest choice. At 4K, Medium is the only preset that reliably exceeds 60 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,085. This matters for Hitman 2, which relies on a main game thread for AI and simulation logic alongside the rendering threads.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample storage for the game's level data. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,516 and multithread score of 37,816 indicate balanced performance across both metrics. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking against all CPUs places it above the majority of processors, and its 46,062 average benchmark score puts it within 0.2% of several EPYC server chips, which is remarkable for a desktop processor with a 65 W TDP.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions and higher frame rates. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 301 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability. The 14 cores without hyperthreading mean that the CPU can handle the game's parallel workloads, but the absence of additional threads may limit performance in scenes with heavy AI activity. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz helps drive the main game thread, which is crucial for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s through dual-channel DDR5 is sufficient for Hitman 2's asset streaming, though the game's open-ended levels can create sudden bandwidth demands when loading new areas. The 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die size indicate a dense, efficient design that keeps power consumption reasonable while delivering competitive performance. The CPU's 24 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency in repetitive game logic, which contributes to the stable frame delivery seen in the Medium preset results across all resolutions.