Hitman DirectX 12 Graphics Performance Analysis

Final Thoughts

It’s evidently clear that AMD graphics cards perform brilliantly in Hitman across various performance tiers and demonstrate how poorly NVIDIA’s low-mid range products cope with the DirectX 12 API. For example, the Fury X consistently earned the top spot and defeated one the fastest GTX 980Ti cards by a surprisingly large margin. Not only that, The R9 Nano reported absurdly good numbers and went toe-to-toe with the relatively expensive GTX 980Ti. While the GTX 980Ti is capable of maintaining a solid frame-rate, it’s not really able to match the Fury X or pull ahead of affordable AMD options like the R9 390X. Throughout the testing procedure, I was stunned by the R9 390’s ability to output stunning performance numbers and absolutely destroy its nearest rival, the GTX 970.

If you’re aiming for a reliable 60 frames-per-second experience at either 1920×1080 or 2560×1440, it’s recommended to opt for at least an R9 390. As expected, 4K owners will need a dual card setup or resort to making some concessions in the game’s options menu. Honestly, I was surprised to see the Fury X offer such a stable frame-rate with extreme details while playing Hitman on a 4K panel. Granted, it didn’t manage to surpass 45 frames-per-second but it’s much closer to the magical 60 than I thought possible. Another huge disappointment from NVIDIA is the Titan X which provided mediocre performance numbers and didn’t justify its hefty price tag.

Once again, this is another very strong showing for AMD graphics cards in a DirectX 12 game which poses some fascinating questions about the competitiveness of Maxwell and to a lesser degree, Pascal when more developers decide to use the latest API. So far, we’ve tested a few DirectX 12 titles including Ashes of the Singularity and a very clear pattern emerges. AMD’s GCN architecture is perfectly tailored towards DirectX 12 and has a clear advantage compared to NVIDIA. Whether this situation remains the same in the next few years is unclear, but it’s great news for AMD owners. Clearly, the company’s work on Mantle and focus to bring a low-level API for consumers has paid dividends.

Thank you to all our partners who provided the hardware and software that made this performance analysis possible.