Hitman 2

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Hitman 2 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B370 shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 73 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 46 FPS, a reduction of 27 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 25 FPS. This pattern — a roughly 37% decline from 1080p to 1440p and another 46% decline from 1440p to 4K at Low settings — indicates that the Intel Arc B370's rendering throughput is the dominant constraint.

The scaling behavior becomes even more pronounced at higher settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 41 at 1080p to 26 at 1440p, then to 14 at 4K. That is a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 46% drop from 1440p to 4K. The consistency of these percentage declines across different settings presets suggests a GPU-bound scenario where the integrated graphics solution simply cannot maintain frame rates as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the measured rows include both minimum and maximum FPS values, offering additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 54 FPS with a minimum of 46 and maximum of 63. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 35 FPS with a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40. At 4K Medium, the average is 19 FPS with a minimum of 16 and maximum of 21. The minimum-to-maximum spread narrows as resolution increases, which indicates that frame pacing becomes more consistent but at a much lower overall performance level.

Ultra settings produce the most demanding scenario. The average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 30, at 1440p Ultra it is 19, and at 4K Ultra it drops to 10. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p Ultra is a 37% reduction, and from 1440p to 4K Ultra it is a 47% reduction. This uniform scaling pattern across all four settings presets strongly suggests that the limiting component is the GPU, not the CPU, because CPU-bound workloads typically show less dramatic resolution scaling.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process at Intel's foundry. Its boost clock reaches 2400 MHz with a base clock of 300 MHz. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. It also includes 10 ray tracing cores. The FP32 compute throughput is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 performance at 12.29 TFLOPS via a 2:1 ratio.

Memory configuration is entirely system-shared. The memory size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as system-dependent, meaning the GPU relies on the host system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory clock is also listed as system shared. This architecture has significant implications for Hitman 2 performance, as the game's texture streaming and geometry processing must compete with CPU memory traffic over the same dual-channel memory bus.

The GPU's benchmark standing is notably low. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1184, and its percentile versus all GPUs is 5. This places it in the bottom 5% of all GPUs tested. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with an average score of 1186 and a delta of -0.2%, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with a score of 1190 and a delta of -0.5%, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M with a score of 1192 and a delta of -0.7%. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168 with a delta of 1.4%. These rivals are all legacy mobile or low-end desktop parts, confirming that the Arc B370's absolute performance level is extremely modest.

The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s provide theoretical ceilings that align with the measured frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the 10 FPS average suggests the GPU is heavily saturated, likely due to both shading workload and memory bandwidth limitations from the system-shared configuration. The GPU's 25 W TDP and IGP slot width further indicate this is not designed for high-end gaming workloads, and the measured data confirms that expectation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 provides substantial processing capability that, in this pairing, is largely underutilized in Hitman 2. This CPU features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using a 3 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 243 mm² and 17,800 million transistors. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache.

In CPU benchmark tests, the Core Ultra 7 265 performs strongly. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 42216, and its single-core score is 5960. The PassMark multi-thread score is 49682, with a single-thread score of 4689. The PassMark physics score is 2923. The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 93, placing it in the top 7% of all processors tested. Its average benchmark score is 64640.

The nearest CPU rivals provide context for this performance level. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64823 with a delta of -0.3%, meaning the Core Ultra 7 265 is 0.3% behind. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438 with a delta of 0.3%, so the 265 is 0.3% ahead. The AMD EPYC 7343 scores 64202 with a delta of 0.7%, and the AMD EPYC 9124 scores 65104 with a delta of -0.7%. These deltas are all within 1%, indicating that the Core Ultra 7 265 sits in a tightly contested performance band among high-end desktop and server processors.

Given that the CPU is in the 93rd percentile while the GPU is in the 5th percentile, the performance bottleneck in Hitman 2 is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU's 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache are more than sufficient to feed the Arc B370's modest rendering capabilities. The game is a 2018 title, and its CPU demands are likely well within the capabilities of this processor, even at 1080p where frame rates reach 73 FPS at Low settings. The data suggests that any frame rate limitations observed are attributable to the GPU, not the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with Intel Arc B370 produces the following average FPS: 73 at Low, 54 at Medium, 41 at High, and 30 at Ultra. The Medium preset includes a measured minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 63 FPS. This represents the only resolution where the combo achieves an average above 60 FPS, and only at the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the averages fall to 46 at Low, 35 at Medium, 26 at High, and 19 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 30 and maximum of 40. No preset at this resolution reaches 60 FPS average; even Low falls 14 FPS short of that threshold.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 25 at Low, 19 at Medium, 14 at High, and 10 at Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 16 and maximum of 21. This resolution is clearly beyond the comfortable operating range for this GPU, as even Low settings produce an average below 30 FPS.

The progression across settings at each resolution is roughly linear. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium reduces FPS by 19, from Medium to High by 13, and from High to Ultra by 11. At 1440p, the reductions are 11, 9, and 7 respectively. At 4K, the reductions are 6, 5, and 4. This pattern shows that the absolute FPS cost of each settings tier decreases at higher resolutions, but the relative cost remains significant.

For the Medium preset, which has min/max data at all three resolutions, the frame time consistency is worth noting. At 1080p, the range from min to max is 17 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 10 FPS. At 4K, the range is 5 FPS. This tightening of the FPS range at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes consistently saturated, leaving less variance in frame delivery.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with Intel Arc B370 ranks 2768 out of 3001 tested combos in Hitman 2. This places it in the bottom 8% of all CPU-GPU pairings tested for this game. The rank reflects the GPU's severe performance limitation, as the CPU alone would rank much higher based on its 93rd percentile standing among all CPUs.

The combination of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU creates a significant imbalance. The CPU's benchmark scores place it within 1% of high-end AMD EPYC server processors, while the GPU's closest rivals are legacy ATI parts from over a decade ago. In Hitman 2, the measured frame rates reflect the GPU's capability almost exclusively, as the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor at any resolution or settings preset tested.

Given the combo rank of 2768 out of 3001, this pairing is not competitive for Hitman 2 at any reasonable performance target. The 1080p Low average of 73 FPS is the only measured configuration that approaches a smooth experience, and even that falls short of high refresh rate territory. For context, the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all GPUs means that 95% of GPUs in the database outperform it, which directly correlates with the low combo ranking.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal configuration for Hitman 2 with this hardware combination is 1920x1080 with Low settings, producing an average of 73 FPS. This is the only measured preset that achieves an average above 60 FPS, which is typically considered the minimum for a playable experience. The 1080p Medium preset averages 54 FPS, which may be acceptable for some players, but it represents a 26% reduction from Low.

At 2560x1440, no preset achieves even 50 FPS average. The Low preset at 46 FPS is the best option, but it sacrifices visual quality for a frame rate that remains below the 60 FPS target. At 3840x2160, all presets are below 30 FPS average, making 4K unplayable for this title with this hardware. The Ultra preset at any resolution produces averages of 30 FPS or below, with 4K Ultra at 10 FPS being the worst measured configuration.

The Medium preset provides the best balance of measured data completeness, with min/max FPS available at all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 54 FPS average with a 46 FPS minimum means the frame rate rarely drops below the mid-40s. For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Medium is the highest settings preset that maintains an average above 50 FPS. The High preset at 1080p drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 30 FPS, both of which may introduce noticeable stutter in a stealth game where precise timing matters.

The data suggests that the Arc B370 is best suited for 1080p gaming on this title, and only at lower settings presets. Players should prioritize resolution over settings quality, as the FPS penalty for increasing resolution is steeper than the penalty for increasing settings within the same resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for Hitman 2 with this CPU-GPU combo?

A: The best resolution is 1920x1080, where the combo achieves 73 FPS average at Low settings and 54 FPS average at Medium settings. At 2560x1440, the best average is 46 FPS at Low, and at 3840x2160, the best average is 25 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at 1186 (-0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (-0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (-0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 at 1168 (+1.4%). All are within 1.5% of the Arc B370's score.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Hitman 2 with this setup?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 ranks in the 93rd percentile among CPUs, while the Intel Arc B370 ranks in the 5th percentile among GPUs. The FPS drops consistently across resolutions, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: What average FPS does this combo achieve at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 30 FPS. This is the same as the 4K Low average of 25 FPS is not, but it is the lowest 1080p preset measured.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640. It is 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823), 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438), 0.7% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7343 (64202), and 0.7% behind the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104).

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Hitman 2?

A: The combo ranks 2768 out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all pairings tested for this game. This low ranking is driven by the GPU's 5th percentile performance standing.