Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, a 2023 adventure title, presents an interesting benchmark scenario when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet shows signs of CPU limitation at the lightest settings. This analysis breaks down the measured frames per second (FPS) to understand where the bottleneck lies, how the game scales, and what the optimal configuration is for this specific hardware combo.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern: as resolution drops, frame rates climb dramatically, but the rate of that climb tells a story about system balance. At 4K (3840x2160) with Ultra settings, the combo averages 136 FPS. Dropping to 1440p (2560x1440) Ultra yields 203 FPS, a substantial 49% increase in performance. Moving further down to 1080p (1920x1080) Ultra nets 269 FPS, another 33% jump from 1440p. This scaling pattern—where each resolution step down yields a large percentage gain—is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. The RTX 4080 is doing the heavy lifting, and reducing pixel count directly alleviates its load.

However, the scaling changes character when the settings are lowered. At Low settings, the FPS progression from 4K (206 FPS) to 1440p (307 FPS) shows a 49% gain, similar to the Ultra pattern. But the jump from 1440p Low to 1080p Low is only 26% (307 to 388 FPS). This diminishing return at 1080p suggests that the CPU, the Ryzen 5 7400F, is starting to become a limiting factor. The GPU is so fast at these low resolutions and pixel counts that it is finishing its work faster than the CPU can feed it new frames.

The Medium preset offers the most granular data, including minimum and maximum FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average rises to 257 FPS (a 49% increase), with a minimum of 219 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average climbs to 342 FPS (a 33% increase from 1440p), with a minimum of 290 FPS. The consistency of the ~49% improvement when moving from 4K to 1440p across High, Medium, and Ultra settings strongly reinforces that the RTX 4080 is the primary performance driver in this resolution range. The bottleneck only begins to shift at the 1080p Low extreme, where the CPU's role becomes more pronounced.

Settings Recommendations

For this combination of hardware, the data suggests that the "Medium" preset is the most balanced and often the sweet spot for maximizing the experience, especially considering the frame time consistency. The measured FPS for Medium is the only preset that includes minimum and maximum values, indicating it was likely the focus of the most detailed testing. At 1440p Medium, the average of 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS shows a tight frame delivery, avoiding significant dips that could cause stutter.

While Ultra settings at 1440p still deliver a highly playable 203 FPS average, the step down to Medium provides a 27% performance uplift (from 203 to 257 FPS). Given that the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in a 2D side-scrolling adventure like Dave The Diver is often less impactful than in 3D titles, the performance headroom offered by Medium is compelling. At 1080p, Ultra is playable at 269 FPS, but Medium leaps to 342 FPS, an even larger relative gain.

For players targeting 4K, Medium presents a solid choice, hitting an average of 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS. This ensures the gameplay remains smooth even in busier scenes. Using High settings at 4K drops the average to 154 FPS. The data implies that Medium is the "performance-friendly" preset, while High and Ultra are for those who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate. The Low preset, while hitting 388 FPS at 1080p, seems unnecessary for a game of this genre, as the frame rates are already so high at higher settings that the extra performance is not tangible.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the undeniable star of this benchmark, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than sufficient for Dave The Diver’s demands. The measured data shows the GPU scaling linearly with resolution, which is characteristic of a title that is not memory-constrained at any of the tested settings. The 16 GB frame buffer ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there are no memory-related performance cliffs.

The GPU's clock speeds—a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz—are key to its performance. The high boost clock allows the card to sustain high throughput, which is reflected in the 4K results. At 4K High, the card manages an average of 154 FPS, and at 4K Low, it pushes to 206 FPS. This demonstrates that even when the settings are lowered to reduce shader complexity, the GPU is still the primary bottleneck at this resolution. The card is simply processing pixels at its maximum rate.

The RTX 4080's position relative to its rivals is also telling. The nearestRivals data shows it is nearly identical in average benchmark score to the RTX 4080 SUPER, with a deltaPct of 0.1%. In this game, the 4080 is effectively trading blows with its SUPER counterpart. It also sits ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S by 2.6% and 2.7% respectively in overall average score, but in-game, the massive performance headroom suggests that any of these GPUs would deliver excellent frame rates. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 Tensor cores are present, but for this title, the raw rasterization power represented by its 9728 shading units is what drives the high FPS numbers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a comprehensive look at the performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across the board. The Low preset hits an average of 388 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire test. Medium averages 342 FPS with a minimum of 290 FPS and a maximum of 393 FPS. High averages 305 FPS, and Ultra is not far behind at 269 FPS. Even at the most demanding 1080p preset, the system is far beyond the refresh rate of any standard monitor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains elite. Low settings average 307 FPS. The Medium preset shines here, with an average of 257 FPS, a minimum of 219 FPS, and a maximum of 296 FPS. High settings still offer a very smooth 230 FPS average, while Ultra dips to 203 FPS. The data shows that 1440p is the 'sweet spot' for this hardware, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over 1080p while maintaining frame rates well above 200 FPS on most presets.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 starts to show its limits, but the results are still impressive. Low settings provide an average of 206 FPS. Medium is the most stable choice here, with an average of 172 FPS, a minimum of 146 FPS, and a maximum of 198 FPS. High averages 154 FPS, and Ultra drops to 136 FPS. This shows that even at 4K, the system is capable of high-refresh-rate gaming, though the gap between the presets becomes more pronounced as the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of the benchmark database, this specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 279 out of 3710 tested combos for Dave The Diver. This places it in the top 7.5% of all tested systems, a signal of the raw power of the RTX 4080. The rank of 279 is impressive, but given the GPU's performance, it suggests that the CPU might be holding the combo back from an even higher placement.

If the combo were paired with a more powerful CPU, it might climb higher in the ranks, especially in scenarios where the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low settings. The data shows that the 7400F has an average benchmark score of 32750, which places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-14600T and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, are all within a 0.3% margin of its score, indicating that this CPU is a solid mid-range performer. It is not a top-tier chip, and in a game where the GPU is so strong, the CPU's influence on the final rank is minimized, but it does prevent the system from reaching the absolute top echelons.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running on the AM5 socket. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. In the context of Dave The Diver, this CPU is more than adequate for the game's logic, which is not particularly demanding. The benchmark results show that the CPU only becomes a factor at 1080p with Low settings, where the FPS growth from 1440p slows down. This indicates that the 7400F's 6 cores are sufficient to handle the game's simulation and AI at 4K and 1440p, but at the lowest resolution and settings, its single-threaded performance becomes the bottleneck.

The CPU's benchmark scores support this analysis. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 21765, and its single-core score is 3072. These are solid numbers that place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. The PassMark single-thread score of 3689 shows that it has capable single-core performance, but it's not the fastest on the market. The data implies that for most gaming scenarios, this CPU will not be a limiting factor, but when paired with a GPU as powerful as the RTX 4080 in a lightweight game, its performance ceiling is exposed. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for gaming, but the dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is standard. This CPU is a capable partner for the RTX 4080, but it is not the ideal match for pushing the absolute highest frame rates in CPU-light games at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Dave The Diver?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, it averages 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS, offering a great balance of visual fidelity and high frame rates. 4K is also viable, with Medium averaging 172 FPS.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F bottlenecking the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate a CPU bottleneck only at 1080p with Low settings. The FPS increase from 1440p Low (307 FPS) to 1080p Low (388 FPS) is only 26%, compared to the ~49% increases seen at other resolutions, suggesting the CPU limits frame rates at this extreme low-load scenario.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's performance here compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The nearestRivals data shows the RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score only 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER. In practice, they are effectively tied in overall performance, and the measured FPS in this game would likely be nearly identical.

Q: Which graphics preset provides the most stable frame delivery?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS. At 1440p, it has a tight range of 219 to 296 FPS, indicating consistent frame times. At 4K, the range is 146 to 198 FPS, which is also stable.

Q: Does the 16 GB of VRAM on the RTX 4080 ever become a limitation in this game?

A: No. The consistent scaling of FPS with resolution and settings suggests there is no VRAM bottleneck. At 4K Ultra, the card averages 136 FPS, indicating that the GPU's processing power, not its memory capacity, is the limiting factor.

Q: Where does this specific combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 279th out of 3710 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7.5% of all systems. This high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 4080's immense power, with the CPU playing a secondary role.