Hitman 2

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus pairs a 24-core, 24-thread Arrow Lake Refresh design with a 3.70 GHz base clock and a 5.50 GHz boost clock. This configuration places the processor in the 96th percentile among all CPUs tested in the database, with an average benchmark score of 93,785. In Hitman 2, this CPU headroom is substantial; the game’s engine rarely scales to fully utilize 24 threads, but the high boost clock and strong single-thread performance ensure that frame pacing remains consistent even when the GPU is saturated.

The processor’s nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark scores are the Intel Xeon 6520P (93,786, a 0% delta), the AMD EPYC 4564P (95,183, -1.5%), the AMD EPYC 9175F (95,615, -1.9%), and the AMD EPYC 4565P (95,764, -2.1%). These deltas are negligible in synthetic workloads, but in gaming, the Ultra 7 270K Plus’s architecture—with 36 MB of shared L3 cache and a 3 nm process from TSMC—delivers lower latency than those server-oriented parts. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score of 5,068 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,439 reinforce that this is a desktop-first chip, which matters for Hitman 2’s simulation-heavy crowd and AI routines.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is adequate for the game’s data streaming needs. At 1080p, where the CPU has the most influence, the measured frame rates are high enough that the processor is never the bottleneck; even at Ultra settings, the average FPS of 131 suggests the CPU can feed the GPU without issue. The 24 threads are overkill for Hitman 2, but the high boost clock is the more relevant factor. The data shows that the CPU role here is to provide a stable platform that does not introduce stutter, and the benchmark results confirm it does so across all tested settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB203 chip, brings 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 2295 MHz, boosting to 2617 MHz, and it houses 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. In the aggregate GPU benchmark, the RTX 5080 scores 56,083, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757, a 0.6% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, 0.7%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54,828, 2.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (57,367, -2.2%).

Hitman 2 is not a VRAM-heavy title at the tested settings; even at 4K Ultra, the 16 GB frame buffer is far from exhausted. The GPU’s role is instead defined by raw rasterization throughput. The 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate are the specs that drive the frame rates observed. At 1080p Low, the RTX 5080 produces 314 FPS average, which indicates that the GPU is nowhere near its limit at lower resolutions. The pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s becomes more relevant as resolution scales, and the measured FPS drop from 314 at 1080p Low to 107 at 4K Low (a 66% reduction) illustrates how the GPU’s fillrate is taxed by higher pixel counts.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2617 MHz is high for a 50-series card, and the data suggests that the RTX 5080 maintains consistent performance without thermal throttling in this game. The 960.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than sufficient for Hitman 2’s texture streaming; the game’s levels are moderately sized, and the GPU’s cache hierarchy handles repeated texture fetches efficiently. The benchmark results indicate that the RTX 5080 is the primary performance driver at 4K, where the CPU’s influence wanes, and the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems dictate the final frame counts.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at the same settings reveals the expected frame rate decay, but the magnitude varies by preset. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 314 at 1080p to 201 at 1440p (a 36% drop) and then to 107 at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). This steep decline at 4K Low indicates that even the RTX 5080’s substantial compute resources are being saturated by the pixel count, despite the low graphical complexity.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 235 FPS at 1080p, 150 FPS at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 80 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and Medium suggests that the limiting component is the GPU’s fillrate and shader throughput, not the CPU or memory bandwidth. The CPU’s 24 cores and high boost clock have ample headroom; the frame rate decline is almost entirely attributable to the GPU rendering more pixels.

At High settings, the FPS values are 178 at 1080p, 114 at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 61 at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). The same relative scaling continues. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 131 at 1080p, 84 at 1440p (a 36% drop), and 45 at 4K (a 46% drop from 1440p). The uniformity of these percentage drops—roughly 36% for the 1080p-to-1440p step and 46-47% for the 1440p-to-4K step—across all four settings is a strong indicator that the RTX 5080 is the consistent bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, the drop from 1080p to 1440p would be smaller, as higher resolution reduces CPU load per frame. Instead, the data shows a linear relationship between pixel count and frame time, confirming GPU dominance.

The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS average is particularly telling. This is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS, and it does so because the GPU’s 56.28 TFLOPS are fully occupied by the combination of high resolution and maximum graphical detail. The 4K Medium result of 80 FPS and 4K High of 61 FPS show that the GPU has enough headroom for playable frame rates at most settings, but Ultra is a step too far for smooth 60 FPS at 4K. The scaling data suggests that users targeting 4K should favor Medium or High settings to stay above the 60 FPS threshold, as the jump from Medium to Ultra costs 35 FPS at 4K (from 80 to 45), which is a 44% reduction.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS rows provide a clear picture of the trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate for this combo. At 1920x1080, all settings produce playable frame rates, but the difference between Medium (235 FPS) and Ultra (131 FPS) is significant. The Ultra preset’s 131 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, and for competitive play, the Low preset’s 314 FPS offers the lowest latency. However, the Medium preset at 1080p provides the best balance: 235 FPS average, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. This range is smooth and consistent, making Medium the recommended choice for 1080p users who want high refresh rates without the visual degradation of Low settings.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again stands out. The 150 FPS average, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS, is comfortably above 60 FPS and offers a smooth experience on high refresh rate monitors. The High preset’s 114 FPS is also viable, but the drop from Medium to High costs 36 FPS (24%), while the visual difference between these two presets in Hitman 2 is often subtle. The Ultra preset at 1440p (84 FPS) is playable but starts to approach the lower end of the desirable range for fast-paced action. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset, as it provides a 25% higher frame rate than High (150 vs 114) with minimal visual compromise.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. The Ultra preset’s 45 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold and would result in a less fluid experience. The High preset’s 61 FPS is right at the edge, but it may dip below 60 in demanding scenes. The Medium preset’s 80 FPS average, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS, is the only 4K configuration that consistently stays above 60 FPS. This makes Medium the clear recommendation for 4K users. The Low preset at 4K (107 FPS) is unnecessarily fast and sacrifices too much visual quality. Across all resolutions, Medium offers the best measured experience: it is the highest preset that maintains a minimum FPS above 60 in every resolution, and it does so while avoiding the large frame rate penalties of High and Ultra.

FAQ

Q: Does this CPU and GPU combo hit 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Hitman 2?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 45 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. To achieve 60 FPS or higher at 4K, the Medium preset must be used, which yields 80 FPS average.

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains a minimum FPS above 60 at all resolutions?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with a recorded minimum FPS above 60 across all tested resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 200 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 128 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 68 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: The drop is consistent across settings. At Low, the average FPS falls from 314 to 107 (a 66% reduction). At Medium, it falls from 235 to 80 (66%). At High, it falls from 178 to 61 (66%). At Ultra, it falls from 131 to 45 (66%).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The percentage drop in FPS from 1080p to 1440p is consistently around 36% across all settings, and from 1440p to 4K it is consistently around 46-47%. This uniform scaling with resolution is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset is recommended. It provides 150 FPS average with a minimum of 128 FPS, which is 36 FPS higher than the High preset’s 114 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 84 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its closest rival in aggregate GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 56,083. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, scores 55,757, which is a 0.6% lower delta. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scores 57,367, which is 2.2% higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates for this combo are presented below, organized by resolution and settings preset. All values are averages unless otherwise noted, with minimum and maximum values provided where the data includes them.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 314 FPS. The Medium preset averages 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. The High preset averages 178 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 131 FPS. These numbers show that the RTX 5080 has significant headroom at 1080p, even at the highest settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 201 FPS. The Medium preset averages 150 FPS, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS. The High preset averages 114 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 84 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 58% reduction in average FPS (from 201 to 84), which is a larger relative drop than at 1080p, where the reduction is 58% as well (314 to 131).

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 107 FPS. The Medium preset averages 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and a maximum of 92 FPS. The High preset averages 61 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration in the entire dataset that falls below 60 FPS average, and the 4K High result at 61 FPS is marginal. The Medium preset’s minimum of 68 FPS ensures that even the worst-case frame times remain above the 60 FPS line.

The data also reveals a consistent multiplier between settings. At each resolution, the Ultra preset is roughly 60% of the Low preset’s frame rate (e.g., 131/314 at 1080p, 84/201 at 1440p, 45/107 at 4K). This consistency suggests that the performance scaling between presets is well-balanced and predictable across resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 achieves a combo rank of 179 out of 3,001 tested combinations in Hitman 2. This places the combo in the top 6% of all tested systems for this game. The rank is a function of the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, weighted toward the higher presets. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is a relative weakness, as many higher-ranked combos likely maintain 60 FPS at that configuration. However, the excellent 1080p and 1440p performance, particularly the 314 FPS at 1080p Low and 150 FPS at 1440p Medium, offsets this.

The combo’s rank of 179 reflects the GPU’s strong aggregate benchmark position (87th percentile) and the CPU’s high single-thread performance. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking among all processors ensures that it does not drag down the combo’s performance in CPU-light scenarios like Hitman 2. The nearest rival GPUs in aggregate benchmarks, such as the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (2.2% higher score), would likely produce similar frame rates in this game, but the combo ranking incorporates the specific interaction with the Ultra 7 270K Plus.

The data shows that this combo is not the top performer in Hitman 2, but it is well above the median. The rank of 179 out of 3,001 means that only 178 other combinations of CPU and GPU deliver higher measured FPS in this title. This is a strong result, particularly considering that the RTX 5080’s aggregate GPU score is not in the top 10% of all GPUs (it is in the 87th percentile). The combination of a high-clock 24-core CPU and a fast 16 GB GPU works effectively in this game, with the only notable shortfall being 4K Ultra, where the 45 FPS average is a clear limitation. For users prioritizing high refresh rates at 1080p or 1440p, this combo ranks exceptionally well, as the measured FPS at those resolutions is rarely matched by systems with lower-tier components.