Hitman 2

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a highly capable, if not universally flawless, experience in Hitman 2. The data shows a system that can prioritize high refresh rates at mainstream resolutions or push for maximum visual fidelity at 4K, though the latter comes with significant trade-offs in fluidity. Analysis of the measured frames reveals a platform that scales predictably, with the GPU acting as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and the high core-count CPU providing ample headroom at lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 1440p is the standout choice in the measured data. It delivers a 92 FPS average, which comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and provides enough headroom for dips in busy scenes. This is a substantial 25 FPS improvement over the Ultra preset at the same resolution, which drops to a 67 FPS average. The visual difference between High and Ultra is often marginal in Hitman 2, making the 25 FPS gain from High the more sensible option for a responsive experience.

At 1080p, the High preset is the clear winner for high-refresh-rate displays. The 143 FPS average is excellent, and it stays well ahead of the 105 FPS average seen on Ultra. While the Low preset pushes the frame rate to an impressive 253 FPS, the significant graphical compromises are rarely worth the jump from High, especially since High already provides a triple-digit frame rate. For competitive play or if the display supports very high refresh rates, Low is an option, but High is the sweet spot for most users.

The Medium preset is a viable fallback for 4K gaming. It produces a 65 FPS average, which is just above the playable threshold, with a minimum of 55 FPS indicating occasional stutters in dense areas. This is a massive improvement over the 36 FPS average on Ultra, which is not fluid enough for a stealth action game. The 4K Medium setting offers a playable compromise, though the 1440p High preset is the recommended path for a consistently smooth experience. The Ultra preset is best reserved for capturing screenshots or for scenarios where frame rate is not a priority, as its 36 FPS average at 4K and 67 FPS at 1440p are too low for consistent, comfortable play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its characteristics directly shape the game's performance profile. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a 672.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for Hitman 2's detailed environments at all tested resolutions. The data shows that the card’s performance scales with resolution, but the frame rate drops are steep, indicating that it is working at its limit when settings are increased.

The RTX 5070’s clock speeds—a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz—are the primary drivers of its raw rasterization power. This is reflected in its 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which translates into the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. The card’s 48 RT cores and 192 Tensor cores are present, but the benchmark results show that traditional rasterization is the main factor in these measurements, as the game’s performance is heavily influenced by the standard shader load.

The GPU’s performance is also contextualized by its benchmark scores and rivals. With an average benchmark score of 40377, it sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Interestingly, the nearest rivals in the data are professional workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% faster) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% faster), which have similar average scores. This suggests that in synthetic tests, the RTX 5070's performance is comparable to these pro-oriented cards, but its 12 GB VRAM and driver optimizations for gaming are what make it excel in Hitman 2's real-world scenarios.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is where the GPU's limits become apparent. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 92 FPS to 49 FPS, a 47% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the game is becoming increasingly pixel-bound, and the RTX 5070's 30.87 TFLOPS of compute power is struggling to fill the extra 2.1 million pixels at 4K. The data suggests that while the card is powerful enough for high-refresh 1440p gaming, it is not a native 4K powerhouse for this title, requiring settings reductions to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 provides a robust foundation for the RTX 5070, and its specifications suggest it is well-suited to avoid bottlenecking the GPU. With 14 cores and 14 threads, the processor has a high level of parallelism, though its lack of Hyper-Threading means the thread count equals the core count. This is an important distinction, as Hitman 2 is known to scale with multiple cores, and the 14 available threads are sufficient to keep the GPU fed.

The CPU’s base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz are critical for the game's single-threaded performance. The high boost clock ensures that the main game logic and AI calculations are processed quickly, preventing CPU-side stalls that could limit the frame rate. This is supported by the benchmark data, which shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, a strong result that indicates excellent per-core performance for a desktop processor.

The processor’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache is another key asset. This large cache helps reduce memory latency and improves data throughput for the game's various systems, from NPC AI to level streaming. The CPU’s overall strength is reflected in its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924, which places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This multi-threaded capability ensures that the CPU can handle background tasks and complex game simulations without compromising the frame rate.

In terms of its standing among rivals, the Ultra 5 245 is closely matched with several other high-end processors. The data shows it is within 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K and within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 in average benchmark scores. This indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in Hitman 2 at any of the tested resolutions. The evidence for this is the massive frame rate jump when the GPU load is reduced; for instance, at 1080p Low, the system reaches 253 FPS, which is a clear sign that the CPU can handle even the highest frame rates the RTX 5070 can produce.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but with compromises. The data shows that at 4K with Medium settings, the system achieves a 65 FPS average with a 55 FPS minimum. This is playable, but the Ultra preset at 4K drops to a 36 FPS average, which is not smooth. For a consistently fluid 4K experience, Medium settings are the maximum recommended.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh-rate gaming?

A: At 1080p, the High preset delivers a 143 FPS average, which is ideal for 144Hz displays. For 1440p, the High preset provides a 92 FPS average, which is still very good, but the 1080p High setting offers the best combination of high frame rates and visual quality for competitive or fast-paced play.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. When moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings, the frame rate drops from 143 FPS to 49 FPS. This sharp decline with increasing resolution is a classic sign of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU’s high benchmark scores and the 253 FPS result at 1080p Low confirm it is not holding the system back.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance?

A: The Ultra preset carries a significant performance cost. At 1440p, it delivers 67 FPS compared to 92 FPS on High, a 25 FPS reduction. At 1080p, it delivers 105 FPS versus 143 FPS on High. The visual uplift from High to Ultra is typically minor in this game, making High the more performance-efficient choice.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 have enough VRAM for this game?

A: Yes. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory, and the game's texture requirements at 4K Ultra are met, as the system still relies on the GPU's compute limits rather than running out of memory. The 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth is also sufficient to handle the game's data streaming without causing stutters related to memory capacity.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows a 121 FPS average for Medium settings at 1440p, with a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 139 FPS. This makes it an excellent choice for players with 120Hz or 144Hz monitors who want a higher frame rate than High offers.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At High settings, the system produces 143 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 92 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 49 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 47% decrease from 1440p to 4K. These steep drops indicate that the RTX 5070 is being progressively overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count, with the 4K resolution requiring the GPU to render over 4 times the pixels of 1080p.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. On Low, the system hits 253 FPS at 1080p, 162 FPS at 1440p, and 86 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic falloff, with 105 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and just 36 FPS at 4K. The fact that even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS at 4K (it only achieves 86 FPS) reinforces that the GPU is the limiting factor, as reducing the graphical load does not fully compensate for the massive pixel count.

This scaling behavior has practical implications. At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-limited in the sense that the CPU can push frame rates high enough to expose any GPU weakness, but the GPU still has enough power to deliver excellent results. At 1440p, the balance is ideal, with the GPU providing high frame rates without being pushed to its absolute limit. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, and the data suggests that users should either reduce settings to Medium or accept frame rates below 60 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS is a stark reminder that this combination is not a native 4K high-refresh solution for Hitman 2.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured results provides a detailed look at the system's performance envelope.

1080p:

• Low: The average frame rate is 253 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. This indicates the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution and settings level.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 189 FPS, with a minimum of 161 FPS and a maximum of 218 FPS. This is an excellent result for high-refresh-rate monitors, providing a consistent triple-digit experience.
• High: The average frame rate is 143 FPS. This is a very strong result, offering a smooth and responsive experience for most displays, including 144Hz panels.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 105 FPS. While this is still playable, it represents a 38 FPS drop from High, showing that the Ultra preset carries a heavy cost even at 1080p.

1440p:

• Low: The average frame rate is 162 FPS. This is a high result, showing that the GPU can still produce excellent frame rates at this resolution when settings are low.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 121 FPS, with a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 139 FPS. This is a solid result for 1440p, making it a good choice for 120Hz monitors, with the minimum staying above the 100 FPS mark.
• High: The average frame rate is 92 FPS. This is a very good result for 1440p, providing a smooth experience that is close to the ideal 100 FPS mark.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 67 FPS. This is a playable result, but it is noticeably lower than High, and the 25 FPS drop makes High the more attractive option for maintaining a higher frame rate.

4K:

• Low: The average frame rate is 86 FPS. This is a surprisingly high result for 4K, showing that the GPU can handle the pixel load when other effects are minimized.
• Medium: The average frame rate is 65 FPS, with a minimum of 55 FPS and a maximum of 74 FPS. This is a playable result, but the minimum frame rate suggests there will be noticeable dips in busy scenes.
• High: The average frame rate is 49 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a less desirable option for 4K.
• Ultra: The average frame rate is 36 FPS. This is a low result that is not suitable for fluid gameplay, indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this setting.

The data across all resolutions shows a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The performance deltas are consistent, with Ultra always costing roughly 25-30% of the frame rate compared to High. For the best experience, the Medium preset at 4K (65 FPS) or the High preset at 1440p (92 FPS) are the most balanced options, depending on whether resolution or frame rate is the higher priority.