Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a 2018 stealth title, responds predictably but not uniformly to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination. The measured data reveals a configuration where the GPU is the primary scaling factor across resolutions, but the CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures high refresh rates are attainable at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all presets and resolutions, contextualizing the combo's rank and component roles.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience for this specific hardware combination, especially at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 175 FPS, which is only 58 FPS behind the Low preset's 233 FPS but provides a substantial visual upgrade over Low. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p is a 43 FPS drop to 132 FPS, a 24.5% reduction, which is a significant cost for the visual fidelity gain. Therefore, for competitive or high-refresh-rate play, Medium is the optimal choice.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset's 112 FPS average remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at this resolution produces 84 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices the headroom needed for consistent 100+ FPS gameplay. The Ultra preset at 1440p, with its 62 FPS average, is best reserved for players prioritizing maximum visual quality over frame rate smoothness.

The situation changes at 3840x2160, where the GPU becomes the bottleneck. Here, the Medium preset produces a 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains a consistent 60 FPS baseline, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays. The High preset at 4K drops to 45 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold, while the Ultra preset falls to 33 FPS, which is not suitable for a stealth-action game requiring precise timing. The Low preset at 4K, yielding 79 FPS, is viable but severely compromises visual fidelity. In summary, Medium is the recommended preset for a balanced experience across all resolutions, with it being the only 4K option that guarantees a 60 FPS average.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, is the decisive component in this configuration's performance. The GPU's 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power and its 84 RT cores are designed for high-end rendering, and the measured FPS data reflects this. The card's role is most evident in the scaling of FPS with resolution. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 175, while at 4K Medium, it drops to 60. This 65.7% reduction in frame rate is primarily due to the GPU's workload increasing with pixel count.

The GPU's memory configuration is also critical. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, the game does not run into memory limitations, as the data shows a playable (though low) 33 FPS average. The 256-bit memory bus and high bandwidth allow for efficient texture streaming, which is essential for Hitman 2's detailed environments. The boost clock of 2617 MHz, combined with a base clock of 2295 MHz, provides the raw processing speed needed to maintain the high frame rates seen at 1080p.

The RTX 5080's performance is further contextualized by its benchmark scores. In Passmark's G3D test, it scores 36565, and in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it achieves 8637. These synthetic benchmarks corroborate the real-world FPS results, confirming that the GPU is operating at its expected performance level. The GPU's percentile ranking at 87% of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083, places it in the upper echelon of graphics cards, though the data shows it is not the absolute top performer, as evidenced by its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which has a 2.2% higher average score.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the performance limiter at higher resolutions. At the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 175 at 1920x1080 to 112 at 2560x1440, a 36% reduction, and then to 60 at 3840x2160, a further 46.4% reduction. This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count demands proportionally more fill rate and memory bandwidth.

The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at 1080p. At Low settings, the combo achieves 233 FPS at 1080p, which is an exceptionally high frame rate. This suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX can feed the GPU with enough frames at lower resolutions where the GPU workload is less demanding. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering time becomes the dominant factor, and the FPS drops accordingly.

At the High preset, the FPS scaling is 132 (1080p) → 84 (1440p) → 45 (4K). This represents a 36.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 46.4% drop from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend: 97 (1080p) → 62 (1440p) → 33 (4K). The consistent pattern of roughly a 35-40% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 45-50% drop to 4K across all presets confirms that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is likely a key factor in this scaling, as higher resolutions require more data to be fetched from VRAM.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a thorough picture of performance.

1920x1080:

• Low: Average FPS of 233. This is the highest frame rate recorded, indicating a CPU-bound scenario where the GPU is not fully utilized.
• Medium: Average FPS of 175, with a minimum of 148 and a maximum of 201. This represents a 24.9% drop from Low, showing the increased GPU workload.
• High: Average FPS of 132. A 24.6% drop from Medium, balancing visual quality and performance.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 97. A 26.5% drop from High, providing the highest visual fidelity at 1080p.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average FPS of 149. This is a 36.1% drop from the 1080p Low score, demonstrating the resolution scaling.
• Medium: Average FPS of 112, with a minimum of 95 and a maximum of 128. This is a 36% drop from the 1080p Medium score.
• High: Average FPS of 84. A 36.4% drop from the 1080p High score.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 62. A 36.1% drop from the 1080p Ultra score.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average FPS of 79. This represents a 47% drop from the 1440p Low score, highlighting the 4K rendering burden.
• Medium: Average FPS of 60, with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 68. This is a 46.4% drop from the 1440p Medium score.
• High: Average FPS of 45. A 46.4% drop from the 1440p High score.
• Ultra: Average FPS of 33. A 46.8% drop from the 1440p Ultra score.

The data shows a clear pattern: the relative performance drop between presets remains consistent at each resolution, but the absolute FPS values are heavily influenced by the resolution. The Medium preset at 4K (60 FPS) performs similarly to the Ultra preset at 1440p (62 FPS), illustrating the trade-off between resolution and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 791st out of 3001 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the top 26.4% of all tested configurations. The combo's rank is a holistic measure that considers all measured FPS rows, giving more weight to higher settings and resolutions.

The rank is influenced by the strong performance at 1080p, where the combo excels due to the CPU's capability, and the moderate performance at 4K, where the GPU, while powerful, is not the absolute fastest. The fact that this is a mobile CPU (Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX) paired with a desktop-class GPU (RTX 5080) is notable. The rank of 791 suggests that while this is a high-performing combo, there are many other configurations in the database that achieve higher average FPS in Hitman 2, likely due to more powerful desktop CPUs or higher-tier GPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which has a 2.2% higher average benchmark score, may contribute to better ranks in games where the GPU is the sole bottleneck. However, the combo's rank is also proof of the CPU's strength, as the 20-core Intel processor prevents the system from being severely bottlenecked at lower resolutions, allowing the RTX 5080 to reach its full potential.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265HX, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, plays a crucial role in this configuration's performance, particularly at lower resolutions. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.30 GHz, combined with a base clock of 2.60 GHz, provides excellent single-threaded performance, which is critical for Hitman 2's game logic and AI. This is evidenced by the 233 FPS average at 1080p Low settings, a score that is only achievable when the CPU can process game frames faster than the GPU can render them.

The CPU's architecture, Arrow Lake, manufactured on a 3 nm process, contributes to its efficiency. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used data. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 40642 in multi-core and 5737 in single-core, demonstrating strong all-around performance. The Passmark single-thread score of 4500 further confirms its capabilities.

The CPU's role is less significant at 4K, where the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The consistent FPS drops from 1440p to 4K across all presets (approximately 46-47%) indicate that the CPU is not limiting performance at higher resolutions. The data shows that the CPU can maintain frame rates well above what the GPU can render at 4K, as the FPS is solely determined by the GPU's rendering time. The CPU's percentile ranking at 93% of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 63173, places it as a high-end mobile processor. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13790F, has a virtually identical average score (63080, a 0.1% delta), showing that the Ultra 7 265HX is competitive with previous-generation desktop chips, which helps explain its ability to drive high FPS at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 4K display with this combo?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 is the only one that achieves a 60 FPS average, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 68 FPS. High and Ultra presets at 4K drop to 45 FPS and 33 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the FPS scale from 1080p to 4K at the High preset?

A: The average FPS drops from 132 at 1920x1080 to 84 at 2560x1440, a 36.4% reduction. It then falls to 45 at 3840x2160, a 46.4% reduction from the 1440p score. This scaling indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 1440p and 4K resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent FPS drops with increasing resolution. However, at 1080p Low settings, the CPU is capable of driving 233 FPS, suggesting it is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for Hitman 2?

A: This combo ranks 791st out of 3001 tested combinations, placing it in the top 26.4% of all tested systems for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 5080's performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, has an average score of 57367, which is 2.2% higher. Other rivals like the AMD Radeon 8060S are 0.6% behind.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 95, with an average of 112 and a maximum of 128. This indicates good frame time consistency with no severe drops.