Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a demanding title, and this pairing of an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 proves that decisively. Across every resolution and preset tested, the game remains comfortably playable, with the most significant bottleneck appearing only at the extreme high end of the settings and resolution scale. The data shows a system that is overqualified for the task, delivering frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate capabilities in most scenarios, but it also reveals a clear hierarchy where the GPU's workload scales predictably with resolution while the CPU's influence fades into the background as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but the absolute numbers remain high enough to render the conversation moot for most users. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 154.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113.1 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 76 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 51% reduction in average FPS from the lowest to the highest resolution, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound workload at the top end. The scaling is not linear, however. The jump from 1440p to 4K costs 37.1 FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs 41.7 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 4060 is beginning to hit its memory bandwidth and pixel throughput limits at 4K, as the 128-bit bus and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become more stressed.

At Low settings, the pattern is similar but the absolute numbers are much higher. The 4K Low average of 116.7 FPS is still above 1440p Ultra’s 113.1 FPS, which shows that lowering settings has a more profound impact on performance than lowering resolution. The 1080p Low score of 233.1 FPS is the highest recorded, and it suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at this point. The Ryzen 5 2600’s 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, are likely holding back the RTX 4060 from reaching even higher frame rates. The gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 58 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the gap at Ultra, but the fact that 1080p Low does not scale to 300 FPS indicates a CPU bottleneck. For a game like Dave The Diver, this is irrelevant in practice, but the data clearly shows that the GPU is the primary scaling factor from 1440p upward, while the CPU starts to matter at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Dave The Diver at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 76 FPS. Even at High settings, it reaches 88.3 FPS, and at Low settings it hits 116.7 FPS. All of these are well above the standard 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maximize frame rate?

A: The highest average frame rate is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, reaching 233.1 FPS. However, even at 2560x1440 with High settings, the average is 131.2 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 a bottleneck for the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: The data suggests a mild CPU limitation at 1080p. The difference between 1080p Low (233.1 FPS) and 1440p Low (175.1 FPS) is large, but the 1080p result is not as high as the GPU would theoretically allow. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rival in terms of raw benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6600M with a score of 23321, which is a -0.6% delta. The Intel Arc B580 is also close at 23021, a 0.7% delta.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield an average of 131.2 FPS, while Ultra settings drop that to 113.1 FPS. The difference of 18.1 FPS is significant, but the game remains fully playable at both presets.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 2600's performance percentile reflect its ability in this game?

A: The CPU has a percentile of 77 versus all CPUs, and its average benchmark score is 19616. This places it in the upper-midrange, and the game's results confirm it is sufficient, though not exceptional, for driving high frame rates at low resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. Its benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11186 and a single-core score of 1579. These numbers place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable for a processor from the 2000 series. In the context of Dave The Diver, this CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor. The jump from 1080p Low to 1440p Low results in a 58 FPS drop, but the 1080p score of 233.1 FPS is not exceptionally high for a system with an RTX 4060, indicating that the CPU cannot push frames faster than that.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's influence diminishes. The gap between 1440p and 4K at any given setting is roughly 40-45 FPS, which is consistent with GPU-bound scaling. The Ryzen 5 2600's 16 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are sufficient for this game's demands. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-11600KF has a delta of -0.6% and the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U has a delta of 0.6%, meaning the 2600 performs almost identically to these modern parts in synthetic benchmarks. For a game like Dave The Diver, which is not CPU-intensive, the 2600's age does not translate to a negative experience; it simply caps the maximum frame rate at 1080p to around 230 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 920 out of 1626 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is interesting given the high absolute frame rates. The ranking is not a measure of playability, but rather a comparison of how this combo performs against all other CPU-GPU pairings. A rank of 920 out of 1626 suggests that many other combinations deliver higher average frame rates, likely due to more powerful CPUs that can push the RTX 4060 harder at 1080p.

The percentile of 66 for the RTX 4060 versus all GPUs indicates it is a mid-range card, and the CPU's 77th percentile is slightly higher. The combo rank being below the 50th percentile (920/1626 is roughly 56.6%) suggests that the CPU is holding the system back from ranking higher. In a game where the GPU is not heavily taxed, a stronger CPU could boost this combo's rank significantly. However, the data also shows that the absolute performance is more than adequate for the game's requirements. The rank is a relative measure, and in absolute terms, this combo delivers a smooth experience at all tested settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low 233.1 FPS, Medium 194.2 FPS, High 172.4 FPS, and Ultra 154.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 78.3 FPS, which is a 33.6% drop. This shows that the GPU has a significant workload increase from the lowest to highest preset, but the CPU remains the primary limiter at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop: Low 175.1 FPS, Medium 147.2 FPS, High 131.2 FPS, and Ultra 113.1 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 62 FPS, showing a similar percentage drop. At this resolution, the GPU begins to take over as the bottleneck. Finally, at 3840x2160, the results are: Low 116.7 FPS, Medium 96.7 FPS, High 88.3 FPS, and Ultra 76 FPS. The spread is 40.7 FPS, and the Ultra setting at 4K is the only configuration that drops below the 80 FPS mark. Across all settings and resolutions, there is no configuration that produces an average below 60 FPS, which is the typical target for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p display, the High preset at 172.4 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The jump to Ultra only costs 17.6 FPS, but the visual difference in a game like Dave The Diver is minimal, while the frame rate drop is noticeable. For 1440p displays, the High preset at 131.2 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides an excellent experience for high-refresh-rate monitors, and the Ultra preset at 113.1 FPS is still very playable but offers diminishing returns. For 4K displays, the High preset at 88.3 FPS is the sweet spot. The Ultra preset at 76 FPS is playable, but the drop of 12.3 FPS is not worth the minor visual upgrade. The Low preset at 4K yields 116.7 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that is not graphically demanding. In all cases, the Medium preset provides a safe middle ground, with 194.2 FPS at 1080p, 147.2 FPS at 1440p, and 96.7 FPS at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the star of this show, and its role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, it has a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz allow it to deliver a FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS. In Dave The Diver, the GPU is the primary scaling component from 1440p upward. The benchmark results show that at 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops are consistent with increased pixel workload. The card's 48 ROPs and 96 TMUs are sufficient for this game's rendering needs.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 23181, which is -0.6% relative to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and +0.7% relative to the Intel Arc B580. This indicates that the 4060 is a solid mid-range card, and its performance in this game reflects that. The GPU's 66th percentile versus all GPUs means it is above average, but not a top-tier part. In Dave The Diver, the RTX 4060 does not break a sweat. Even at 4K Ultra, the 76 FPS average is likely limited by the card's memory bandwidth rather than its compute power. The data suggests that the RTX 4060 is more than capable of handling this game, and users would be better served by a higher refresh rate display or a higher resolution to take full advantage of its capabilities.