Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a stealth title from 2018, demonstrates distinct performance scaling characteristics when paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system that transitions from being heavily GPU-bound at 4K to exceptionally capable at 1080p, where the CPU's headroom becomes apparent.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, clearly identifying the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 227 FPS at 1920x1080 to 145 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 82 FPS, and then further down to 77 FPS at 3840x2160. This trajectory shows that the RTX 3080's rendering workload roughly quadruples in pixel count from 1080p to 4K, and the frame rate responds accordingly, dropping by approximately 66% from the lowest to highest resolution.

The pattern holds for High settings, where the average FPS scales from 128 at 1080p, to 82 at 1440p, and finally to 44 at 4K. This represents a 65% performance decrease from 1080p to 4K, nearly identical to the Low setting's drop. The consistency of this scaling across presets suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is uniformly affected by pixel throughput, with no single setting causing a disproportionate bottleneck at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the scaling becomes even more pronounced. The 1080p average of 95 FPS drops to 61 FPS at 1440p and bottoms out at 32 FPS at 4K. This 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K mirrors the other presets, reinforcing that resolution, not settings complexity, is the dominant factor in performance degradation. The 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS is particularly telling—it indicates that the combination of maximum pixel count and highest fidelity settings overwhelms the GPU's capabilities.

The Medium preset provides the only rows with min/max FPS data. At 1080p, the range spans from 144 to 195 FPS with an average of 170. At 1440p, the range tightens to 92-125 FPS with a 109 average. The 4K Medium results show a 49-67 FPS range with a 58 average. These ranges demonstrate that frame time consistency improves as resolution increases, with the 4K spread of 18 FPS being much narrower than the 1080p spread of 51 FPS. This suggests that at lower resolutions, CPU-side frame generation can cause more variance, while at 4K, the GPU's consistent workload produces steadier output.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the system has substantial headroom—the 227 FPS Low result suggests the CPU can feed frames far faster than the GPU can render them at higher resolutions. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with even Low settings unable to exceed 77 FPS. For players targeting high refresh rates at 4K, this combination will struggle, while 1080p users will find ample performance for even the fastest displays.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Hitman 2 to maintain smooth gameplay?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 109 FPS average, and High achieves 82 FPS, both well above playable thresholds. The 4K resolution only exceeds 60 FPS at Medium (58 FPS) and Low (77 FPS) presets, making 1440p the practical sweet spot for quality and performance balance.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at the same settings?

A: At High settings, 1080p delivers 128 FPS versus 44 FPS at 4K, representing a 2.9x performance advantage. For Low settings, the gap is similar: 227 FPS at 1080p versus 77 FPS at 4K, a 2.9x difference.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide acceptable performance at any resolution?

A: Ultra is only viable at 1080p, where it averages 95 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 61 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 32 FPS, which is below typical playable thresholds for a stealth game requiring precise timing.

Q: What frame rate variance can be expected at Medium settings?

A: The measured min/max ranges show 144-195 FPS at 1080p, 92-125 FPS at 1440p, and 49-67 FPS at 4K. The 4K range has the smallest absolute spread, indicating more consistent frame pacing despite lower overall performance.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 227 FPS result suggests the GPU is still capable of higher output, but the CPU's frame generation becomes the limiting factor. The Core Ultra 7 265's 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock provide sufficient headroom, yet the GPU's rendering speed caps the final output.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p Medium compared to 1080p Ultra?

A: 1440p Medium averages 109 FPS, which is 14 FPS higher than 1080p Ultra's 95 FPS. This indicates that at 1440p, the GPU has enough resources to render Medium settings faster than Ultra at a lower resolution, making 1440p Medium a superior choice for visual fidelity per frame.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 brings substantial processing capability to this pairing, featuring 20 cores and 20 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide a wide operating range, with the 3 nm process node from TSMC keeping power efficiency high at a 65 W TDP. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3, which supports the game's AI and simulation workloads.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and a single-core score of 5,960, indicating strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded tasks. Its PassMark multi-thread score of 49,682 and single-thread score of 4,689 further confirm balanced capabilities. The processor's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs places it in the upper tier, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 4464P (avg score 64,823, delta -0.3%) and AMD EPYC 9124 (avg score 65,104, delta -0.7%).

For Hitman 2, the CPU's role becomes evident in the 1080p results. The 227 FPS Low setting demonstrates that the processor can generate frames rapidly, with the boost clock of 5.30 GHz handling the game's single-threaded simulation logic efficiently. The 20 threads ensure that background tasks and the game's AI systems do not starve the main rendering thread. However, at 4K, the CPU's contribution diminishes as the GPU's workload dominates—the 77 FPS Low result at 4K versus 227 FPS at 1080p shows that the processor is not the constraint at higher resolutions.

The data suggests that the Core Ultra 7 265 provides more than enough computational headroom for Hitman 2. Even at 1080p Ultra, where the CPU would theoretically be most stressed, the 95 FPS average indicates the processor can maintain frame pacing without becoming a bottleneck. The CPU's 20 cores are likely underutilized by this 2018 title, which may not scale perfectly across all threads, but the high single-core boost clock compensates for any lack of multi-core optimization.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 840 out of 3,001 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places the system in the top 28% of all configurations tested, indicating solid but not elite performance for this title. The rank reflects the measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings, weighted toward the overall capability of the pairing.

The combo's rank is influenced by the RTX 3080's performance ceiling at 4K, where the GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and its 68 RT cores are less relevant for a game that does not heavily utilize ray tracing. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all processors helps boost the overall combo position, but the GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs (with an average benchmark score of 23,172) moderates the final standing. The GPU's nearest rivals in the database—NVIDIA P106-100 (avg score 23,249, delta -0.3%) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 (avg score 23,250, delta -0.3%)—show that the RTX 3080 sits in a crowded performance band, which affects the combo's relative position.

For context, the rank of 840 suggests that many combinations with newer or higher-tier GPUs outperform this setup in Hitman 2, particularly at 4K where the 32 FPS Ultra result drags down the overall score. However, the combo's 1080p and 1440p results are competitive, and the rank would be significantly higher if the database weighted lower resolutions more heavily. Players who primarily game at 1080p or 1440p will find this combo well-positioned, while 4K enthusiasts may need to consider GPU upgrades to improve the ranking.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the decisive component in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. Based on the GA102 chip and Ampere architecture, the GPU features 8,704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a boost clock of 1,710 MHz. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for ray tracing and DLSS, though Hitman 2's standard rendering pipeline primarily relies on the traditional shading units.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s. Its pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s directly impacts fill-rate-bound scenarios, which is relevant for Hitman 2's detailed environments. The 320 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate the power requirements, with a suggested 700 W PSU needed for stable operation.

In the measured results, the RTX 3080's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 4K Ultra, the 32 FPS average shows the GPU struggling with the combined load of maximum pixel count and highest fidelity settings. The 4K Medium result of 58 FPS demonstrates that reducing settings can recover playable performance, but the GPU remains the bottleneck. At 1440p, the GPU has more headroom, with High settings achieving 82 FPS and Low reaching 145 FPS.

The GPU's memory configuration of 10 GB could be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where texture-heavy scenes may approach or exceed this capacity. The 760.3 GB/s bandwidth helps mitigate this, but the measured 32 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests the GPU is compute-bound rather than memory-bound. The 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,172, indicates that the RTX 3080 is a mid-to-upper tier performer, but not at the top of the current GPU hierarchy.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 227 FPS, which is exceptional for any game. Medium settings reduce the average to 170 FPS, with a measured range of 144 to 195 FPS. High settings average 128 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 95 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 132 FPS, showing the significant impact of quality presets on performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease substantially. Low settings average 145 FPS, a 36% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 109 FPS with a range of 92 to 125 FPS. High settings achieve 82 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 61 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the GPU is still capable of high refresh rates at lower settings, but Ultra presets drop below the 144 Hz threshold favored by competitive players.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 77 FPS, which is playable but not high-refresh territory. Medium settings average 58 FPS, with a range of 49 to 67 FPS. High settings drop to 44 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 32 FPS. The 4K results show that this combo is only suitable for 60 Hz displays at Medium settings or below, and even then, the average frame rate is tight against the 60 FPS target.

The min/max data for Medium settings provides insight into frame pacing. At 1080p, the 144-195 FPS range indicates a 35% variance from min to max, while at 1440p, the 92-125 FPS range shows a 36% variance. At 4K, the 49-67 FPS range has a 37% variance. This consistency in variance across resolutions suggests that the frame time distribution remains stable regardless of resolution, with the GPU's workload scaling uniformly.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing high refresh rates at 1080p, the High preset at 128 FPS offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 95 FPS is also viable for those who want maximum fidelity and have a 100 Hz or lower display. The Medium preset at 170 FPS is the choice for competitive play where frame rate is paramount, though the visual downgrade from High is noticeable.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 109 FPS provides the best overall experience, delivering smooth gameplay with reasonable visual quality. The High preset at 82 FPS is acceptable for 75 Hz displays, while Ultra at 61 FPS is borderline for 60 Hz panels—players may experience occasional dips below the refresh rate. The Low preset at 145 FPS is excessive for most displays and sacrifices too much visual fidelity for marginal gains.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset at 58 FPS is the only option that approaches playable frame rates, and even then, it falls slightly short of 60 FPS. The Low preset at 77 FPS achieves a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. The High preset at 44 FPS and Ultra at 32 FPS are not recommended for gameplay, as the frame rates would harm the stealth game's precise aiming and timing mechanics.

The data indicates that the optimal configuration for this combo is 1440p with High settings, offering 82 FPS with solid visual fidelity. For 1080p users, High at 128 FPS is the sweet spot, while 4K users should stick to Medium or Low to maintain playability. The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1080p, where it achieves 95 FPS, or for screenshot purposes at higher resolutions where frame rate is not a concern.