Hitman 3 Performance Analysis

Playground.

Just like previous games in the Hitman series, the latest instalment encourages creativity and exploration. Our peformance analysis reveals the system requirements for Hitman 3.

Florian Glaser, 👁 Florian Glaser (translated by Stanislav Kokhanyuk), Published 02/07/2021 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 ...

Technology

If you disregard the janky animations (facial expressions, body movements), then Hitman 3 can be considered as a very graphically impressive title. Thanks to good lighting and high-quality reflections, the richly detailed environments appear very atmospheric. The textures are also very impressive, especially when compared to the rest of the competition in the stealth game genre.

We were most impressed by the game design, though. The developers once again show that they have a very good sense of style. The high-rise complex, in which the first mission takes place, is beautifully constructed and offers a great many opportunities for assassinations. Each level feels completely different from the other.

The high-rise complex where the first mission takes place

The game is incredibly well-optimised, which we find to be quite praiseworthy. While the first instalment in the World of Assassination trilogy was extremely demanding, and not only because of a very high crowd density, which made the game all the more believable, Hitman 3 runs well even on mid-range hardware at high resolutions on the highest settings.

The graphics settings can be changed either in-game or in the game launcher. The graphics settings menu includes 20 settings, only a number of which have a significant impact on both performance and visuals. Positive: Settings can be applied without a restart. The game size amounts to 55 GB, which is neither too big nor too small. The fact that Hitman 3 is, currently, an Epic Games Store exclusive is certain to keep some prospective buyers from getting it right away.

On a technical level—with the exception of a few glitches, which crop up here and there (juddery clothing, flickering surfaces)—Hitman 3 cuts a very fine figure. With an SSD, the loading times are impressively short. Sometimes, controlling the game character does not feel very refined, but that is par for the course in the Hitman series.

Benchmark

While the built-in benchmarks in the prior instalments were, basically, unusable, because they provided results, which were much better than what users experienced in the actual gaming sessions (likely because during the actual gameplay the engine has to carry out far more AI calculations than during the canned benchmark), the integrated benchmark in Hitman 3 reflects actual in-game performance.

As a matter of fact, IO Interactive has included 3 different benchmarks in Hitman 3. In Dartmoor, which includes a manual and an automatic mode, users can witness a grandiose and very thorough physics simulation, in which bookshelves and furniture are blown to pieces. Our benchmark is based on the second sequence, which takes place in Dubai and lasts about 2 minutes. Here, a camera pans across the first level.

In all locations, the built-in benchmark provides information about the minimum, average and maximum frame rates. You can see which settings we used for our presets in the screenshots above.

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Results

FHD (1920x1080)

Even though Hitman 3 is less CPU-demanding than the two previous titles in the series, powerful GPUs still run into CPU bottlenecks on low settings as the chart below shows. Although entry-level chips such as the GeForce MX330 are too weak for Hitman 3, true mid-range graphics cards such as the Radeon RX 5500M or the GeForce GTX 1650 (Ti) can handle the title at 1080p on the highest settings.

Hitman 3
1920x1080 Minimum Settings 1920x1080 Medium Settings AF:16x 1920x1080 High Settings AF:16x 1920x1080 Maximum Settings AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	235 (54^min) fps ∼67% 183 (48^min) fps ∼65% 165 (46^min) fps ∼59% 153 (41^min) fps ∼55%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	208 (110^min) fps ∼59% 172 (94^min) fps ∼61% 168 (90^min) fps ∼60% 166 (77^min) fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	207 (93^min) fps ∼59% 173 (89^min) fps ∼61% 170 (86^min) fps ∼61% 167 (76^min) fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	206 (84^min) fps ∼59% 165 (78^min) fps ∼58% 163 (71^min) fps ∼58% 160 (68^min) fps ∼58%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	206 (106^min) fps ∼59% 171 (93^min) fps ∼60% 167 (87^min) fps ∼60% 165 fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	205 (111^min) fps ∼58% 171 (91^min) fps ∼60% 164 (83^min) fps ∼59% 162 (81^min) fps ∼59%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	203 (81^min) fps ∼58% 164 (76^min) fps ∼58% 151 (63^min) fps ∼54% 136 (60^min) fps ∼49%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	163 (88^min) fps ∼46% 136 (59^min) fps ∼48% 124 (55^min) fps ∼44% 113 (45^min) fps ∼41%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	159 (75^min) fps ∼45% 116 (64^min) fps ∼41% 99.3 (59^min) fps ∼35% 91 (50^min) fps ∼33%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	153 (53^min) fps ∼44% 120 (37^min) fps ∼42% 105 (34^min) fps ∼38% 96.8 (29^min) fps ∼35%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	117 (65^min) fps ∼33% 83.3 (56^min) fps ∼29% 70.7 (45^min) fps ∼25% 64.1 (43^min) fps ∼23%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	113 (42^min) fps ∼32% 84.1 (33^min) fps ∼30% 56.3 (19^min) fps ∼20% 54 (16^min) fps ∼20%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	106 (67^min) fps ∼30% 75.1 (50^min) fps ∼27% 64 (16^min) fps ∼23% 58.3 (38^min) fps ∼21%
NVIDIA GeForce MX350, i7-10710U MSI Prestige 14	31.8 (18^min) fps ∼9% 22.9 (13^min) fps ∼8% 18.5 (11^min) fps ∼7% 16.7 (10^min) fps ∼6%
NVIDIA GeForce MX330, i7-10510U MSI Prestige 14	26 (16^min) fps ∼7% 18.8 (12^min) fps ∼7% 15 (9^min) fps ∼5% 14.4 (6^min) fps ∼5%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile, 6820HK MSI GT62VR	76 fps ∼27% 69 fps ∼25% 63 fps ∼23%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GE72 7RE	48 fps ∼17% 40 fps ∼14% 36 fps ∼13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile, i7-7700HQ MSI GL62M 7RD	37 fps ∼13% 32 fps ∼11% 29 fps ∼10%

QHD (2560x1440)

The above-mentioned GPUs can even run Hitman 3 at 1440p on the highest settings with decent enough frame rates. However, if you want a solid 60 FPS experience here, then you will need a high-end gaming GPU such as the GeForce RTX 2060 or better.

Hitman 3
2560x1440 Maximum Settings AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	166 (58^min) fps ∼78%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	164 (54^min) fps ∼77%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	147 (55^min) fps ∼69%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	140 (81^min) fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	119 (49^min) fps ∼56%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	103 (33^min) fps ∼48%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	93 (53^min) fps ∼44%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	77.1 (26^min) fps ∼36%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	61.8 (19^min) fps ∼29%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	59.2 (45^min) fps ∼28%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	46.4 (15^min) fps ∼22%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	39.4 (27^min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	36.5 (26^min) fps ∼17%

UHD (3840x2160)

To game at 4K on maximum settings, you will need a veritable high-end GPU. Here, the RTX 2060 can achieve 34 FPS, the RTX 2070 hits 50 FPS, and the RTX 2080 outputs 59 FPS on average. So far, we have only tested the desktop versions of Nvidia’s Ampere GPUs. Laptop versions should be slower, because they have lower TGPs and cut-down specifications.

Hitman 3
3840x2160 Maximum Settings AF:16x
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Suprim X	122 (54^min) fps ∼95%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio	109 (49^min) fps ∼85%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	85.2 (52^min) fps ∼66%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3X	77.5 (51^min) fps ∼60%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2080	65.3 (44^min) fps ∼51%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile, i9-9900K MSI GT76 Titan DT 9SG	58.8 (31^min) fps ∼46%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (Desktop), i9-9900K MSI GeForce RTX 2070	50 (37^min) fps ∼39%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SF	41.4 (20^min) fps ∼32%
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GE65 Raider 9SE	34.2 (17^min) fps ∼27%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, i7-9750H MSI GP65 Leopard 9SD	31.2 (21^min) fps ∼24%
AMD Radeon RX 5500M, R7 3750H MSI Alpha 15	22.6 (12^min) fps ∼18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GP75	21.1 (16^min) fps ∼16%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile, i7-10750H MSI GL75	19.3 (13^min) fps ∼15%

Note

Because benchmarking video games is very time consuming and is often constrained by installation/activation limits, at the time of publishing, we were able only to provide a part of our performance analysis of Hitman 3. Other graphics cards will be added in the coming days and weeks.

Overview

Test Systems

Device	GPU	CPU	RAM	OS
Desktop PC I	MSI GeForce RTX 3090 (24 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB GDDR6X) MSI GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (11 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-9900K	4 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC II	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (11 GB GDDR5X) Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-8086K, Aorus Z370 Ultra Gaming	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Desktop PC III	Nvidia Titan RTX (24 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (8 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8 GB GDDR6) Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB GDDR6) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1660 Super (6 GB GDDR6) PNY GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB GDDR5) KFA2 GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR5) AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB GDDR6) AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (8 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT76	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i9-9900K	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE65	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP65	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-9750H	2 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GP75	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (4 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-10750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL75	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB GDDR6)	Intel Core i7-10750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GT62VR	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-6820HK	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GE72	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI GL62	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-7700HQ	2 x 4 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Prestige 14	Nvidia GeForce MX350 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10710U	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Prestige 14	Nvidia GeForce MX330 (2 GB GDDR5)	Intel Core i7-10510U	1 x 16 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
Dell G5 15 SE	AMD Radeon RX5600M (6 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 7 4800H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit
MSI Alpha 15	AMD Radeon RX5500M (4 GB GDDR6)	AMD Ryzen 7 3750H	2 x 8 GB DDR4	Windows 10 64 Bit

4K Monitors	Nvidia drivers	AMD drivers
Asus PB287Q, Philips Brilliance 329P9H, Acer Predator XB321HK	ForceWare 461.40	Adrenalin 21.2.1

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Editor of the original article: Sebastian Jentsch - Managing Editor Consumer Laptops - 1750 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2010

Computers always had an important place in my life, starting with an Intel 80286 microprocessor in the early 1990s. I became interested in the productive side of technology, especially in campus radio, while studying at TU Chemnitz and during a trainee program in Belfast. Hardware interests led me to manage Notebookjournal.de, which is now a division of Notebooksbilliger, for a few years. I became self-employed in 2010 and took the next logical step in my career by starting to write for Notebookcheck.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Hitman 3 Performance Analysis

Florian Glaser, 2021-02- 7 (Update: 2024-08-15)

Legend
5	Stutters – This game is very likely to stutter and have poor frame rates. Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, average frame rates are expected to fall below 25fps
	May Stutter – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, stutters and poor frame rates are expected.
30	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 25fps
40	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 35fps
60	Fluent – Based on all known benchmarks using the specified graphical settings, this game should run at or above 58fps
	May Run Fluently – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game. Based on interpolated information from surrounding graphics cards of similar performance levels, fluent frame rates are expected.
?	Uncertain – This graphics card experienced unexpected performance issues during testing for this game. A slower card may be able to achieve better and more consistent frame rates than this particular GPU running the same benchmark scene.
	Uncertain – This graphics card has not been explicitly tested on this game and no reliable interpolation can be made based on the performances of surrounding cards of the same class or family.
The value in the fields displays the average frame rate of all values in the database. Move your cursor over the value to see individual results.