Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combination pairs AMD's 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 5600 (Zen 3, Vermeer) with NVIDIA's flagship RTX 5090 (Blackwell 2.0, GB202), producing a dataset of measured FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets. The benchmark results reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions, but where the CPU's single-threaded capabilities begin to matter more as settings scale. At 1080p, the average FPS across all presets is 318.5, dropping to 273.25 at 1440p and 189 at 4K, indicating a steep resolution penalty that is characteristic of a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range processor.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear pattern of FPS degradation as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly by settings preset. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all four presets declines by 14.2%, while from 1440p to 4K, the drop is 30.8%. This accelerating decline suggests that the RTX 5090's rendering load grows disproportionately with pixel count, which is expected for a game like Dave The Diver that relies on dense 2D-style visuals with complex lighting and shadow effects.

Looking at individual settings, the High preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 310 FPS at 1080p falls to 260 FPS at 1440p (a 16.1% drop) and then to 174 FPS at 4K (a 33.1% drop from 1440p). The Low preset follows a similar trajectory: 344 FPS at 1080p, 313 FPS at 1440p (9.0% drop), and 233 FPS at 4K (25.6% drop). The Medium preset is more resilient between 1080p and 1440p—323 FPS to 291 FPS, an 9.9% drop—but then suffers a 33.0% decline from 1440p to 4K, landing at 195 FPS. The Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute drop from 1080p to 1440p (297 FPS to 229 FPS, 22.9%) but the largest relative decline from 1440p to 4K (229 FPS to 154 FPS, 32.8%).

The scaling pattern indicates that at 1080p, the system is likely CPU-limited in certain scenes, as the FPS differences between Low (344), Medium (323), High (310), and Ultra (297) are relatively compressed—a 47 FPS spread between the lowest and highest presets. At 4K, that spread widens to 79 FPS (154 to 233), suggesting the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The data supports a conclusion that the RTX 5090 has ample headroom at 1080p and 1440p, but the Ryzen 5 5600's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to keep frame rates high without becoming a severe limiting factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090's specifications in this pack are substantial: 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock is 2407 MHz, with a base clock of 2017 MHz, and it houses 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. These figures translate to a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 104.8 TFLOPS. The GPU's average benchmark score is 79,842, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival—the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB—scores 79,605, a delta of just 0.3%.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU's role is most evident at 4K, where the average FPS across all presets (189) is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many high-end monitors target. The Low preset at 4K achieves 233 FPS, while Ultra drops to 154 FPS—a difference of 79 FPS, or 51.3% slower. This sensitivity to settings at 4K indicates that the game's visual effects, such as volumetric lighting and particle simulations, place a significant load on the GPU's shading units and ROPs. The 32 GB VRAM is unlikely to be a constraint in this game, as even the highest settings at 4K would not approach that capacity, but the memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s helps maintain consistent frame pacing at high resolutions.

The GPU's percentile ranking (92nd) and average benchmark score (79,842) suggest it is one of the faster cards in the database, but its nearest rivals include data center parts like the Tesla P100, which indicates that the score is not purely gaming-focused. In practical terms, the RTX 5090's performance in Dave The Diver is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay at all tested resolutions, with the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium being 166 FPS—still well above typical display refresh rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz, boosting to 4.40 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's memory support is DDR4 on a dual-channel bus, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 18,309 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,584 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 9,158 and single-core of 1,936. Its average benchmark score is 20,468, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CPUs.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database are close: the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V scores 20,454 (0.1% slower), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G scores 20,425 (0.2% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9454P scores 20,422 (0.2% slower). This clustering indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600 sits at a performance level that is broadly comparable to recent mid-range parts, despite being from an older generation.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but at 1080p, the FPS values—ranging from 297 to 344—suggest that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output without becoming a hard bottleneck. The difference between 1080p Low (344 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (297 FPS) is 47 FPS, which is a 13.7% reduction. This is a smaller percentage drop than what occurs at 4K (from 233 Low to 154 Ultra, a 33.9% reduction), implying that at 1080p, the CPU's single-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,584) is adequate to feed the GPU, whereas at 4K, the GPU's workload dominates.

The CPU's 12 threads are likely sufficient for this game's threading model, as Dave The Diver is not a heavily multithreaded title. The data shows that the CPU's 3DMark scores—5,641 for 16 threads and 882 for single-thread—are respectable, but the game's FPS scaling with resolution suggests that the GPU, not the CPU, is the primary determinant of performance in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 165th out of 3,710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 4.4% of all configurations. This ranking is notable because it places this mid-range CPU and flagship GPU combo ahead of many systems with more balanced pairings, but also behind those with top-tier CPUs like the Ryzen 7 or Core i7 series.

The ranking suggests that in this game, the GPU's performance dominates the combo's overall ranking, as the RTX 5090's 92nd percentile GPU score is significantly higher than the CPU's 74th percentile. The delta between these percentiles indicates that the CPU is the weaker link in the pairing, but the game's relatively modest CPU requirements mean that the combo still performs admirably. The rank of 165 out of 3,710 also implies that there are 164 other combos that achieve higher FPS in this game, likely featuring higher-end CPUs with more cores or higher clock speeds that can better exploit the RTX 5090's capabilities at lower resolutions.

In practical terms, the combo's ranking means that it outperforms approximately 95.5% of all tested configurations in this game, which is a strong result for a CPU that was released in 2022 with a $199 launch MSRP. The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 5600 does not significantly hold back the RTX 5090 in Dave The Diver, as the FPS values at all resolutions and settings are well above playable thresholds.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all four presets deliver average FPS above 297, so the Ultra preset (297 FPS) is the best choice for maximum visual fidelity, as it provides a 7.5% reduction in FPS compared to High (310 FPS) but offers the most detailed graphics. The Medium preset (323 FPS) offers a good balance if Ultra's visual effects are not considered necessary, but the data shows that the FPS difference between Medium and High is only 13 FPS (4.0%), making High the better value in terms of visual quality per frame.

At 1440p, the High preset (260 FPS) is the recommended choice, as it delivers a 13.4% improvement over Ultra (229 FPS) while maintaining a frame rate that exceeds any display's refresh rate. The Medium preset (291 FPS) is also viable, but the 31 FPS difference between Medium and High (10.7%) suggests that High provides a better visual experience without a substantial performance penalty. The Low preset (313 FPS) is only 20.4% faster than High, which is not a compelling trade-off given the reduction in visual quality.

At 4K, the Ultra preset (154 FPS) is still playable on high-refresh monitors, but the High preset (174 FPS) offers a 13.0% FPS improvement with minimal visual degradation. The Medium preset (195 FPS) is the best choice for users who prioritize smoothness, as it provides a 26.6% improvement over Ultra while still looking significantly better than Low (233 FPS). The Low preset at 4K (233 FPS) is recommended only for competitive play or if the user demands the highest possible frame rate, as the visual quality drop is substantial.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset of measured FPS values is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Ultra: 297 FPS average
• High: 310 FPS average
• Medium: 323 FPS average (min 274, max 371)
• Low: 344 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Ultra: 229 FPS average
• High: 260 FPS average
• Medium: 291 FPS average (min 247, max 335)
• Low: 313 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Ultra: 154 FPS average
• High: 174 FPS average
• Medium: 195 FPS average (min 166, max 224)
• Low: 233 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 274 and the maximum is 371, a range of 97 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 88 FPS (247 to 335), and at 4K Medium, the range narrows to 58 FPS (166 to 224). This tightening range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as the resolution increases, reducing the likelihood of CPU-induced frame spikes or drops.

The FPS differences between resolutions within each preset are consistent with the resolution scaling analysis. For example, the High preset shows a 50 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (310 to 260) and an 86 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K (260 to 174). The Low preset shows a 31 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (344 to 313) and an 80 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K (313 to 233). These numbers confirm that the GPU is the primary scaling factor, as the absolute FPS drops increase with resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 154 FPS, which is still above the 144 Hz refresh rate of many gaming monitors.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 20,468, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (20,454) and 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (20,425) and AMD EPYC 9454P (20,422).

Q: Is the RTX 5090's VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K?

A: The RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, which is more than adequate for Dave The Diver at any resolution or settings preset, as the game's requirements are well below this capacity.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 344 FPS average, while Ultra achieves 297 FPS, a difference of 47 FPS (13.7% slower for Ultra).

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 165th out of 3,710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 4.4% of all configurations.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tested settings?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 166 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.