Hitman 2

Hitman 2, a 2018 stealth title, presents an interesting case study for a modern flagship pairing. The data for the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a system with immense headroom, where the bottleneck shifts dramatically depending on the resolution and preset selected. This analysis explores the measured FPS across different settings to understand the balance between this high-end CPU and GPU in a game that is not particularly new.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and expected trend: as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, average frame rates decrease substantially. However, the magnitude of this drop is highly dependent on the graphics preset, revealing where the system's limits lie. At the "Low" preset, the system scales from 334 FPS at 1080p down to 114 FPS at 4K. This represents a significant 66% reduction in frame rate, but the absolute numbers are so high that the system remains exceptionally playable even at the highest resolution.

The scaling pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. At the "High" preset, the average FPS drops from 190 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p, and then to 65 at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, a 46% decrease, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor. This is even more evident at the "Ultra" preset, where the frame rate falls from 140 at 1080p to 89 at 1440p and finally to 48 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result, at under 60 FPS, suggests that even the mighty RTX 4090 is being pushed to its limits by the game's most demanding settings.

What does this imply about the limiting component? At 1080p, even with "Ultra" settings, the CPU is likely the primary driver of performance, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster than the processor can feed it. The high frame rates at 1080p, exceeding 300 FPS on "Low," are a signal of the 290K's strong single-core performance. As the resolution increases, the pixel fill rate demand on the GPU grows exponentially. The transition from 1440p to 4K shows a pronounced performance penalty, which is a classic sign of the GPU becoming fully saturated. The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 4090 is the bottleneck at 4K, particularly on "High" and "Ultra" settings, while the CPU is more of a factor at 1080p and lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is placed at rank 110 out of 3001 tested combos for Hitman 2. This places it in the top 3.7% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The ranking indicates that while there are 109 other combinations that perform better in this specific game, this pairing is still exceptionally fast.

Looking at the individual component rivals provides context for this ranking. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, has an average benchmark score that is only 0.2% lower. This indicates that the 290K Plus is essentially at parity with its predecessor in general compute tasks, and any performance difference in Hitman 2 is likely minimal. The GPU's nearest rival, the Intel Arc Pro A60, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (a 0% delta), which is a statistical anomaly given the massive difference in their specifications. The data shows that the 4090 outperforms the AMD Radeon PRO V710 by 2.9%, but is 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M in the aggregated benchmark score.

These rival scores are from synthetic benchmarks and do not directly translate to Hitman 2's frame rates. The combo's rank of 110 suggests that while both components are top-tier, the game itself may not be fully optimized to extract every last bit of performance from them. The ranking implies a system that is supremely capable, but the specific demands of Hitman 2 might favor other combinations, perhaps those with different CPU/GPU pairings that are better balanced for this particular engine. The data shows that this is a top-tier pairing, but not the absolute best, leaving a small margin of performance on the table for other systems to capture.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 48 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with the "Ultra" preset, which is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combination.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, has an average benchmark score that is only 0.2% lower, indicating near-parity in single-threaded tasks.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1440p High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with "High" settings, the average FPS is 121. This is a high frame rate that suggests a good balance, but the 46% drop when moving to 4K on the same preset implies the GPU is starting to become a more significant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best-case scenario for frame rates at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average FPS in the data is 334, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the "Low" preset. This indicates the CPU's capability to drive very high frame rates when the GPU load is minimal.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Hitman 2?

A: The combination is ranked 110 out of 3001 tested combos, placing it in the top 3.7% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 has a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, which is a key specification for high-resolution texturing and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance. The "Low" preset yields an average of 334 FPS, while "Medium" produces 251 FPS (with a min of 213 and max of 288). "High" settings still manage an impressive 190 FPS, and even the demanding "Ultra" preset maintains a smooth 140 FPS average. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is never challenged, and the CPU is likely the main driver of these high frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains very high but begins to show the GPU's workload. The "Low" preset averages 214 FPS, and "Medium" drops to 160 FPS (with a min of 136 and max of 184). "High" settings still provide a very playable 121 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors. The "Ultra" preset, however, sees a more significant drop to 89 FPS. This is still a solid result, but it represents a 36% decrease from the 1080p "Ultra" score, showing the impact of increased resolution.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090's limitations in this game become apparent. The "Low" preset still delivers a smooth 114 FPS, but "Medium" drops to 85 FPS (with a min of 73 and max of 98). "High" settings average 65 FPS, which is at the threshold for many 4K displays. The "Ultra" preset is the most demanding, with an average of only 48 FPS. This is the only configuration in the dataset that dips below the 60 FPS target, suggesting that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, users may need to use "High" settings or lower.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combination depend entirely on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For 1920x1080, the "Ultra" preset is the clear choice, as the 140 FPS average is more than sufficient for even the fastest 1080p monitors. The high frame rates also mean that the game will run smoothly with all visual features enabled.

For 2560x1440, the "High" preset appears to be the sweet spot. The 121 FPS average is excellent for a 1440p high-refresh-rate display, providing a smooth and responsive experience. While the "Ultra" preset is still playable at 89 FPS, the visual difference between "High" and "Ultra" may not justify the 26% performance cost for some users. "Medium" is also a viable option for those seeking even higher frame rates, with a 160 FPS average.

The 3840x2160 resolution presents the most significant trade-off. To achieve a consistent 60 FPS experience, the "Medium" preset is the best choice, as it averages 85 FPS with a minimum of 73. This ensures that the frame rate will not drop below 60 FPS in most scenes. The "High" preset, at 65 FPS, is also an option, but the minimum FPS is not recorded, making it riskier for maintaining a locked 60. The "Ultra" preset is not recommended for 4K gaming, as the 48 FPS average will be noticeably less smooth. For a 4K 120Hz display, the "Low" preset at 114 FPS is the only way to get close to that target, sacrificing visual quality for performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2 family, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Its high core count is designed for heavy multi-threaded workloads, but for gaming, the single-core performance is often more critical. The benchmark data shows a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 and a multi-core score of 51731, indicating a very powerful processor in both respects.

In Hitman 2, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, as well as to feed the GPU with draw calls. At 1080p, the high frame rates observed (up to 334 FPS on "Low") are a direct result of the CPU's strong single-threaded performance. The processor's high boost clock of 5.80 GHz is crucial for this. As the resolution increases, the CPU's workload becomes relatively less demanding compared to the GPU, but its ability to maintain high frame rates is still important. The data suggests that this CPU is not a bottleneck in Hitman 2, even at 1080p with "Ultra" settings, as the frame rate of 140 FPS is still very high.

The 290K Plus's performance relative to its nearest rival, the 285K, is nearly identical (a 0.2% difference in average benchmark score). This means that in a game like Hitman 2, which is not extremely CPU-intensive, users are unlikely to see a meaningful difference between these two processors. The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 24 threads provide a solid foundation for gaming, but the data indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU will be the primary component determining the final frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the flagship of the GeForce 40-series, based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. It is a massive GPU with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 384-bit memory bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This immense memory subsystem is critical for high-resolution textures and complex scenes, which is why the card performs well at 4K. The GPU's high boost clock of 2520 MHz and 16384 shading units allow it to handle massive parallel workloads.

In Hitman 2, the GPU's role is to render the game's detailed environments, lighting, and effects. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at 4K, especially on higher presets. The drop from 65 FPS on "High" to 48 FPS on "Ultra" at 4K demonstrates the significant cost of the most demanding settings. The GPU's 24 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, and the fact that performance drops are not due to memory capacity but rather to raw compute and pixel fill rate limits.

The GPU's benchmark scores show it has a Passmark G3D score of 38194, but its nearest rivals are professional workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M. This highlights that the 4090's rasterization performance, while top-tier for gaming, is not entirely without competition in the broader benchmark landscape. However, in the context of Hitman 2, the data clearly shows that the RTX 4090 is a very powerful card that still struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K with "Ultra" settings, indicating that the game can be incredibly demanding on the GPU at high resolutions.