Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, an adventure title released in 2023, presents an interesting case study when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. This combination of a 2019 six-core CPU with a 2025 flagship GPU creates a significant bottleneck dynamic that the benchmark data reveals clearly. The measured frames per second across resolutions and settings paint a picture of a game that is surprisingly demanding at the high end, yet scales in ways that highlight the CPU's limitations at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings presets at each resolution. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 157.8 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth, but the High preset at 175.4 FPS offers a 17.6 FPS improvement. The Low preset pushes performance further to 214.5 FPS, but this comes at a significant visual cost. The sweet spot for a balance of visual fidelity and performance is the High preset at 4K, as it maintains a very high frame rate while presumably offering a much richer visual experience than Low or Medium.

Moving to 1440p, the performance gap between presets narrows considerably. The Ultra preset achieves 210.5 FPS, while High reaches 222.6 FPS, and Low tops out at 248.2 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 12.1 FPS, which suggests that the visual gains from Ultra might be marginal in this game. For the best experience at 1440p, the High preset offers an excellent balance, providing a frame rate well above 200 FPS without the performance penalty of the Ultra settings.

At 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high across the board, ranging from 234.4 FPS on Ultra to 272 FPS on Low. The differences between presets are relatively small in percentage terms, but the High preset at 241.4 FPS remains a strong recommendation. It delivers a frame rate that is only 7 FPS behind Ultra but 30.6 FPS ahead of the Low preset. Given the data, the High preset consistently offers a superior combination of performance and quality across all three resolutions, making it the default recommendation for this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this specific combination in a unique position. With a combo rank of 239 out of 1626 tested combinations, this setup sits in the top 14.7% of all tested configurations for Dave The Diver. This is a strong showing, placing the system well above the median performer. However, the rank also implies that a significant number of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates in this game.

The ranking is likely influenced by the CPU. The Ryzen 5 3600, while a capable processor, is the older component in this pairing. Its benchmark scores, such as a Passmark multithread score of 17700 and a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15045, are respectable but not class-leading. The GPU, on the other hand, is a top-tier part, with a Passmark G3D score of 39650 and a 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The data suggests that the 3600 may be holding back the RTX 5090, preventing the combo from ranking even higher. The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-11400 at -0.1%, show that the 3600 is competitive with its direct peers, but the overall combo rank reflects the ceiling imposed by this mid-range processor.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a dominant force in this test, and its specifications explain why the frame rates are so high. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. This immense bandwidth is crucial for feeding the 21760 shading units at high resolutions, ensuring that texture streaming and data transfer are not bottlenecks. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and its 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power are substantial, allowing it to handle the game's rendering demands with ease.

The data indicates that the GPU is not the limiting factor in most test scenarios. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the game runs at 157.8 FPS, which is a very high load, but the GPU's architecture is clearly capable of much more. This is supported by its benchmark scores, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411. The GPU's role is to provide the raw horsepower, and it does so effectively. The performance ceiling at higher resolutions is more likely tied to the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and manage game logic, rather than any GPU limitation.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average frame rate for this combination at 2560x1440 with the High preset is 222.6 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This CPU-GPU pairing ranks 239th out of 1626 tested combinations for Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 14.7% of all tested systems.

Q: Is the RTX 5090's 32 GB of VRAM a factor in this game?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is a large pool, but with a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, it ensures that the GPU can handle high-resolution textures and data without becoming a bottleneck.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 214.5 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 157.8 FPS, a difference of 56.7 FPS.

Q: Which CPU is a direct rival to the Ryzen 5 3600 in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400 has an average benchmark score of 18150, which is a -0.1% deltaPct compared to the Ryzen 5 3600's average score of 18129.

Q: Does the game run faster at 1080p than at 4K?

A: Yes, at 1080p with High settings, the average FPS is 241.4, whereas at 4K with High settings, it drops to 175.4 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and predictable trend as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the system produces 241.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 222.6 FPS, a decrease of 18.8 FPS. At 4K High, the frame rate falls further to 175.4 FPS, a substantial 47.2 FPS drop from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern is typical, but the magnitude of the drop between 1440p and 4K is notable.

This performance decline is a key indicator of where the bottleneck lies. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is relatively modest (about 7.8%), which suggests that the CPU is still able to keep up with the GPU at these resolutions. However, the much larger drop from 1440p to 4K (about 21.2%) indicates that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor. The RTX 5090 is powerful, but 4K resolution demands a massive amount of pixel processing. The data implies that at 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 5 3600 is the primary constraint, holding the system back from reaching even higher frame rates. At 4K, the GPU's workload increases to the point where it becomes the main limiter.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its cache configuration includes a 32 MB shared L3 cache. These specifications are relevant to its performance in Dave The Diver. The game appears to be well-threaded, as the CPU's 12 threads allow it to handle the game's background tasks and physics calculations.

The CPU's benchmark data provides context for its performance. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2124 and multi-core score of 15045 are solid, but they are not exceptional for modern standards. In the context of this game, the CPU's role is to maintain a high minimum frame rate and ensure that the GPU is fed with data. The measured results show that at 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor. For example, the difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is only 37.6 FPS, which is a smaller gap than at 4K. This suggests that the CPU is saturating and cannot fully utilize the GPU's power at lower resolutions. The CPU's position in the 76th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129, reinforces that it is a competent but not top-tier part, and it is the component that prevents this combination from achieving even higher frame rates in Dave The Diver.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete set of measured average FPS data for this combination across all tested resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are high across the board. The Low preset achieves 272 FPS, which is the peak performance. The Medium preset delivers 252 FPS, and the High preset follows at 241.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at 1080p, with 234.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 37.6 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high. The Low preset leads with 248.2 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 231.5 FPS, and the High preset reaches 222.6 FPS. The Ultra preset produces 210.5 FPS. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is evident, with the Low preset losing 23.8 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 23.9 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are still excellent but show a clear decline. The Low preset achieves 214.5 FPS, making it the only preset to remain above the 200 FPS mark at 4K. The Medium preset produces 199.7 FPS, while the High preset delivers 175.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 157.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 56.7 FPS, which is significantly larger than the gap at 1080p. This data confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, while the CPU's influence is more pronounced at lower resolutions.