Hitman DirectX 12 Graphics Performance Analysis

Hitman – 1080p, 1440p and 4K Benchmarks

At 1920×1080, the R9 Fury X takes a commanding lead and never drops below 60 frames-per-second. This allows for a perfectly fluid user experience even when the action becomes more intense. In second place is the R9 Nano which surpassed one of the fastest GTX 980Ti cards on the market and is another staggering result. Also, the R9 390X and R9 390 achieved a higher frame-rate than NVIDIA’s current flagship by a considerable margin. The GTX 970 fares quite poorly compared to its nearest rival and even falls behind the R9 380X. This is a surprising revelation and I didn’t expect a performance difference between AMD and NVIDIA to be of this magnitude. As expected, the lower end options sporting a mere 2GB of video memory struggle to cope with the game’s vast environments and population density.

Once the resolution is increased to 1440P, the Fury X maintains the top spot and features a much better minimum frame-rate. This time, the GTX 980Ti manages to defeat the Nano in both minimum and average figures. On another note, the R9 390X and 390 output astounding performance numbers for the money and remain within touching distance of 60 frames-per-second. Sadly, the GTX Titan X was underwhelming and I expected more considering the card’s retail value. The 380X fares pretty well and should be able to achieve a smoother frame-rate after you’ve reduced a few settings. Unbelievably, the GTX 970 falls behind the R9 380 and doesn’t remain within the performance tier we’ve come to expect.

Unfortunately, there’s no single card solution available today capable of reaching 60 frames-per-second while running Hitman on a 4K monitor. Saying that, the Fury X is able to produce a smooth frame-rate and doesn’t exhibit any large variation between the minimum and average numbers. The R9 Nano eliminates its tiny deficit to the GTX 980Ti and recorded identical performance figures. This is an astonishing achievement when you consider the compact form factor and significant price difference. Even more impressive, the R9 390X almost matched the GTX 980Ti which almost defies belief. Similarly, the R9 390 wasn’t far adrift and emphasised the product’s amazing price to performance ratio. Embarrassingly for NVIDIA, the GTX 980 fell way behind and couldn’t steam ahead of the budget-orientated R9 380. Clearly, the mainstream Maxwell offerings pale in comparison to similar AMD solutions which raises questions about their competitiveness in DirectX 12 titles.