Dave The Diver

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pairing delivers exceptional performance in Dave The Diver, with the data showing this combination ranks in the top third of all tested system configurations for this title. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings presets are remarkably high, suggesting that this game is far more demanding on the CPU than many modern titles, yet the 6-core, 12-thread processor handles the workload with substantial headroom.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 3600 brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. This processor, built on the Zen 2 architecture with a 7 nm process node, has consistently proven itself in synthetic benchmarks, posting a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a single-core score of 2124. The PassMark multi-thread score of 17700 and single-thread score of 2562 further underscore its balanced capability.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's performance is directly reflected in the ability to maintain high frame rates even at lower resolutions where the graphics card is not the primary bottleneck. The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data flow for the game's asset streaming and physics calculations. The 3dmark scores are telling: 4605 for 16 threads and 696 for single-thread performance indicate that the processor scales well with multi-threaded workloads while maintaining respectable single-thread speed.

The Ryzen 5 3600 sits at the 76th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400, scores 18150, which is a delta of -0.1 percent, essentially a statistical tie. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 18101 (0.2 percent delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 scores 18158 (-0.2 percent delta). This clustering shows that the 3600 performs squarely in the middle of its immediate competition, with no meaningful advantage or disadvantage in raw processing power.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 3600 with the RTX 3080 achieves a rank of 531 out of 1626 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places the system in the 67th percentile of all configurations, meaning it outperforms approximately two-thirds of the tested setups while being outperformed by the remaining third. This is a strong result considering the processor is from the 3000 series, which is now several generations old.

The ranking suggests that while the RTX 3080 is clearly a high-end GPU, the CPU is not holding the system back in this particular game. The frame rates achieved at 1080p, where CPU load is typically highest, remain above 200 FPS across all settings, indicating that the CPU has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU effectively. The RTX 3080 itself sits at the 80th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 35787, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860, -0.2 percent delta) and the AMD Radeon 880M (35646, 0.4 percent delta).

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 229 at 1080p to 174.5 at 1440p, then to 112.7 at 4K. This represents a 23.8 percent drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.4 percent drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern shows that the RTX 3080 becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution increases, which is expected given the GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth.

At Low settings, the frame rates are substantially higher: 268 FPS at 1080p, 232.2 at 1440p, and 151.5 at 4K. The relative drops are 13.4 percent and 34.8 percent respectively. The Ultra preset shows the most significant scaling impact, dropping from 202.9 FPS at 1080p to 150.9 at 1440p (a 25.6 percent drop) and then to 100.2 at 4K (a 33.5 percent drop). The consistent pattern of approximately 25-35 percent drops when moving to 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU maintains adequate performance.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 3600 sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes. The data shows 229 FPS at High settings and 268 FPS at Low settings at 1920x1080, indicating the CPU provides ample performance for even the fastest displays.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 handle 4K gaming in this title?

A: The RTX 3080 delivers 112.7 FPS at High settings and 100.2 FPS at Ultra settings at 3840x2160, making 4K gaming at high refresh rates comfortably achievable.

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

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the system achieves 174.5 FPS, which balances visual quality with high performance. At 1080p, frame rates exceed 200 FPS on all settings except Ultra.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a meaningful improvement over High?

A: The Ultra preset costs 49.2 percent of the High preset's frame rate at 1080p (202.9 vs 229 FPS) and 11.1 percent at 4K (100.2 vs 112.7 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns at lower resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: The system ranks 531 out of 1626 combos, placing it in the top third of tested setups, which is strong given the CPU's generation.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: At lower resolutions, the CPU becomes relatively more important, but the data shows frame rates remain very high, indicating neither component is severely limiting. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the dominant factor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 features the GA102 chip on the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process node by Samsung. With 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, the GPU provides substantial parallel processing capability. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI features, though Dave The Diver does not appear to heavily leverage these capabilities based on the frame rates achieved.

The GPU's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at 19 Gbps effective speed across a 320-bit bus, yielding 760.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The base clock of 1440 MHz boosts to 1710 MHz, providing a peak FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s indicate strong fill-rate capabilities that directly contribute to the high frame rates observed.

The RTX 3080's PassMark G3D score of 25086 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4407 confirm its high-end positioning. The GPU sits at the 80th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, scores 35860 with a delta of -0.2 percent, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE scores 36101 with a delta of -0.9 percent.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for different gaming priorities. For maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 268 FPS, which is 17 percent higher than High at the same resolution. However, the Medium preset at 1080p achieves 256.8 FPS, which is only 4.2 percent lower than Low while likely providing better visual quality.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 193.6 FPS, which is 11 percent higher than High (174.5 FPS) and 28 percent higher than Ultra (150.9 FPS). The Medium preset appears to offer the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at this resolution. At 4K, the High preset at 112.7 FPS is 11.1 percent faster than Ultra (100.2 FPS) and 11.6 percent slower than Medium (127.5 FPS), making High the recommended choice for 4K gaming.

For competitive play where frame rates are paramount, the Low preset at 1080p provides the highest possible performance. For a balanced experience, Medium at 1440p offers excellent frame rates with presumably improved visuals. For maximum visual quality, Ultra at 4K still maintains 100.2 FPS, which is playable on high-refresh-rate displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 268 FPS on Low settings, 256.8 FPS on Medium, 229 FPS on High, and 202.9 FPS on Ultra. The spread from Low to Ultra represents a 24.3 percent performance penalty for maximum settings. These frame rates are exceptionally high, indicating the game is well-optimized for this hardware combination.

At 2560x1440, the measured results are 232.2 FPS on Low, 193.6 FPS on Medium, 174.5 FPS on High, and 150.9 FPS on Ultra. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs between 13.4 percent (Low) and 25.6 percent (Ultra) of frame rate, with the average penalty being approximately 20 percent across all settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are 151.5 FPS on Low, 127.5 FPS on Medium, 112.7 FPS on High, and 100.2 FPS on Ultra. The 4K resolution incurs a 35-44 percent penalty compared to 1440p across the settings range. The Ultra preset at 4K still maintains triple-digit frame rates, which is a remarkable achievement for this hardware combination.

The complete data set shows a consistent pattern: the system is capable of delivering smooth, high-refresh-rate gameplay at every resolution and settings combination tested, with the RTX 3080 providing the necessary GPU horsepower and the Ryzen 5 3600 holding up its end of the bargain without becoming a bottleneck in Dave The Diver.