Hitman 2

# Hitman 2 with Intel Core Ultra 7 155H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

The measured frame rates for this combination reveal a system that is clearly capable of delivering a smooth stealth experience at most resolutions, yet it encounters a significant bottleneck at the highest settings. Across the three tested resolutions, the data shows a steady performance tiering that places the RTX 4070 in a dominant position, while the Ultra preset consistently demands more than what this mobile platform can comfortably deliver at 4K. The interplay between the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H's 16 cores and the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory becomes more evident as the resolution climbs, with the benchmark results suggesting that the graphics card is the primary driver of frame rate until the CPU's capabilities are fully taxed at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic reduction in average frame rates, but the pattern of that decline is far from uniform across quality presets. At Low settings, the system drops from 171 FPS at 1080p to 110 FPS at 1440p, then further down to 58 FPS at 4K — a total reduction of approximately 66% from the starting point. This steep curve at Low settings indicates that even when graphical load is minimized, the move to 4K nearly triples the work required from the rendering pipeline, overwhelming the RTX 4070's capacity to keep pace with the pixel count.

At Medium settings, the scaling follows a similar trajectory: 129 FPS at 1080p falls to 82 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop) and then to 44 FPS at 4K (a 46% further drop from 1440p). The High preset shows the most consistent relative scaling, with 97 FPS at 1080p dropping to 62 FPS at 1440p and finally settling at 33 FPS for 4K. Interestingly, the percentage decline from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 36% across both Medium and High, suggesting that the GPU is handling the additional pixel load in a predictable, linear fashion until the 4K threshold is crossed.

The Ultra preset reveals the most severe scaling penalty: 72 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and just 24 FPS at 4K. The jump from 1440p to 4K at Ultra represents a 48% frame rate reduction, which is the largest proportional drop of any preset. This pattern strongly implies that at Ultra quality, the combination of higher resolution and maximum graphical effects creates a compounding workload that the RTX 4070 cannot sustain, pushing the system into territory where the 4K experience becomes borderline unplayable. The data suggests that the limiting component at 4K Ultra is unequivocally the GPU, as even a powerful 16-core processor cannot compensate for the sheer volume of pixel and shader work required at that resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 sits at the center of this system's gaming performance, and its specifications explain much of the observed behavior. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory running across a 192-bit bus, the card delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth — a figure that proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but begins to show strain at 4K, particularly when texture detail rises. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs, paired with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, provide the raw compute needed for the 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, yet the benchmark results indicate that this compute power is not always fully utilized.

At 1080p, the GPU is clearly the star of the show: even at Ultra settings, the RTX 4070 maintains an average of 72 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth play. The fact that Low settings at 1080p push the frame rate to 171 FPS suggests that the graphics card has headroom to spare when the CPU can feed it data quickly enough. However, the 4K results tell a different story. At 4K High, the card averages only 33 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 24 FPS — figures that indicate the GPU is being saturated by the demands of 8.3 million pixels. The 12 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient for Hitman 2's textures at these settings, as the frame rate drops are consistent with pure rasterization load rather than memory capacity limits.

The GPU's position relative to its peers further contextualizes these results. In the benchmark database, the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37628 (just 0.1% behind), while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails by 0.4% with a score of 37507. More notably, the RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, putting it 1.3% ahead of the desktop RTX 4070, which suggests that the mobile variant of the higher-tier card offers only marginal gains in synthetic tests but could behave differently in real-world gaming scenarios. The RTX 4070's 200 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate it is a power-hungry component for a laptop, yet the measured frame rates show that this power translates into tangible gaming performance at all but the most demanding settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot for this system across all three resolutions, offering the best balance between visual fidelity and playable frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 129 FPS with a minimum of 109 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the requirements for high-refresh-rate displays. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS — still well within the range of smooth, responsive gameplay. Even at 4K Medium, the system manages 44 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS, which is playable for a stealth game like Hitman 2 that does not demand twitch reflexes.

High settings present a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate stability. At 1080p High, the average of 97 FPS remains excellent, while 1440p High yields 62 FPS — a solid result for most monitors. However, 4K High drops to 33 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for a comfortable experience. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p use, where it delivers 72 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, the 46 FPS average is borderline, and at 4K Ultra, the 24 FPS result is simply too low for smooth gameplay.

For players with 1080p displays, Ultra settings provide the best visual experience without sacrificing playability, as even the minimum frame rate at that resolution remains above 60 FPS in the Medium preset. At 1440p, Medium offers the most consistent experience, with the 70 FPS minimum ensuring that frame drops are rarely noticeable. For 4K users, Low settings at 58 FPS is the only preset that approaches a playable frame rate, though the visual compromises may be significant. The data suggests that this system is best paired with a 1440p monitor, where Medium settings deliver a near-ideal balance of image quality and performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 1606th out of 3001 tested combos for Hitman 2, placing it in the 46th percentile of all system configurations. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual strengths of both components, but it reflects the reality that Hitman 2 is a demanding title that favors systems with even more powerful GPUs. The combo's position suggests that while this pairing is competent, it does not break into the upper echelon of tested systems for this particular game.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when considering the CPU's overall standing. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H sits at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32697. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T, which scores 32707 (statistically identical with a 0% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 at 32662 (0.1% behind). The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F scores 32750, placing it 0.2% ahead, while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H leads by 0.4% with a score of 32812. These narrow margins indicate that the Core Ultra 7 155H is competitive with mainstream desktop and mobile processors, but it does not stand out as a performance leader.

The GPU's ranking tells a similar story. At the 81st percentile among all GPUs, the RTX 4070 is a strong performer, yet its nearest rivals include the Tesla P4 and RX Vega 56, which are older or specialized cards. The fact that the combo rank (1606/3001) is lower than either component's individual percentile suggests that Hitman 2's performance characteristics do not fully align with this pairing. The game may be particularly sensitive to memory bandwidth or cache architecture, areas where the Core Ultra 7 155H's 24 MB of L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth could be limiting factors when paired with such a powerful GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H brings substantial processing power to this system, featuring 16 cores and 22 threads based on the Meteor Lake architecture. With a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, the processor is capable of handling the single-threaded workloads that Hitman 2 relies on for game logic and AI, while its multi-threaded capabilities are demonstrated by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache provides a sizable pool for game data, and the 7 nm process node from Intel contributes to the chip's 28 W TDP, which is modest for a 16-core mobile processor.

In the context of Hitman 2, the CPU's role becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions where the GPU is less burdened. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 171 FPS, which suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to sustain very high frame rates. However, the fact that the frame rate does not increase further when switching from Low to Medium at 1080p (129 FPS vs. 171 FPS) indicates that the GPU is still the primary bottleneck at these settings. The CPU's single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743, is solid but not exceptional, ranking in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

The processor's nearest rivals provide context for its gaming performance. The Intel Core i5-14600T, which matches the Core Ultra 7 155H's average benchmark score within 0.1%, is a desktop processor with different power characteristics, yet it performs nearly identically in synthetic tests. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 and Ryzen 5 7400F are also within 0.2% of the Core Ultra 7 155H's score, suggesting that Hitman 2's performance is not particularly sensitive to the architectural differences between these CPUs. The Passmark single-thread score of 3468 and multi-thread score of 24873 further confirm that this processor is a competent but not dominant gaming CPU, with its 16 cores providing ample headroom for background tasks while gaming.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete frame rate data for this system across all tested configurations reveals a clear performance hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 171 FPS at Low settings, 129 FPS at Medium (with a minimum of 109 FPS and maximum of 148 FPS), 97 FPS at High, and 72 FPS at Ultra. These figures demonstrate that the RTX 4070 is more than capable of handling 1080p gaming at any quality level, with even the most demanding preset maintaining a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably: 110 FPS at Low, 82 FPS at Medium (minimum 70 FPS, maximum 95 FPS), 62 FPS at High, and 46 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p stands out as the most balanced option, offering a minimum frame rate of 70 FPS that ensures smooth gameplay even during intense scenes. The High preset at 62 FPS is also respectable, though it leaves less headroom for frame drops. The Ultra preset at 46 FPS is playable but noticeably less smooth, particularly in crowded areas with multiple NPCs.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent: 58 FPS at Low, 44 FPS at Medium (minimum 37 FPS, maximum 50 FPS), 33 FPS at High, and 24 FPS at Ultra. The 4K Medium results show the widest variance of any configuration, with a 13 FPS gap between minimum and maximum, indicating that the frame rate is highly dependent on scene complexity. The 4K Low preset at 58 FPS is the only configuration at this resolution that approaches a consistently playable experience, while the Ultra preset at 24 FPS is best avoided for anyone seeking a smooth experience. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is only viable at Low or perhaps Medium settings with this hardware combination.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Hitman 2 with this system?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 at Medium settings, which delivers an average of 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS. This configuration offers the best balance between visual quality and smooth gameplay, as 1080p is already well-served by Ultra settings (72 FPS) while 4K struggles to maintain playable frame rates at anything above Low settings.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Hitman 2?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves an average of 58 FPS. Medium settings at 4K drop to 44 FPS (with a 37 FPS minimum), High falls to 33 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 24 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K is not recommended beyond Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, putting it 1.3% ahead of the desktop RTX 4070.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The CPU does not appear to be a significant bottleneck at higher resolutions, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 171 FPS, suggesting the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking and competitive scores against rivals like the Intel Core i5-14600T (0% delta) indicate it is a capable gaming processor.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average is 46 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The lack of minimum frame rate data for this configuration means there is some uncertainty, but the average suggests that frame drops below 40 FPS may occur during demanding scenes.

Q: How does this system's performance in Hitman 2 compare to other tested combos?

A: This combination ranks 1606th out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the 46th percentile. This is lower than either component's individual percentile (CPU at 83rd, GPU at 81st), indicating that Hitman 2's specific performance characteristics do not fully leverage the strengths of this pairing.