Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, a 2023 adventure title, presents an unusual stress profile for high-end hardware. The measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 reveals a scenario where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, even at demanding resolutions. The frame rates across all settings are exceptionally high, often exceeding the refresh rates of common displays, which shifts the bottleneck analysis toward the CPU and game engine's frame generation logic. This combination, ranking 215th out of 3710 tested combos, places it in the top percentile of systems for this specific game, according to the data.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking observation from the measured FPS data is the relatively mild impact of resolution scaling, which strongly suggests a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions. When moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average frame rate drops from 305 FPS to 230 FPS, a reduction of 75 FPS. However, the more telling comparison is the jump from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, where the average only falls from 230 FPS to 154 FPS, a further 76 FPS drop. This linear scaling pattern indicates that while the GPU is being engaged more at higher resolutions, the CPU's frame generation limit is still the primary ceiling at 1080p and 1440p.

The data reveals that the RTX 4080 is not being saturated until the resolution reaches 4K. At 1080p Low settings, the system produces 408 FPS, which is an astronomical figure that no current game engine logic would require for smooth gameplay. This is a clear indicator that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is generating frames as fast as it can, and the GPU is merely keeping up. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a drop from 408 FPS to 269 FPS, a 34% reduction, but even the lowest figure is far beyond any display's refresh rate, making the resolution scaling a purely academic exercise in GPU headroom.

The most significant finding is that the performance penalty from 1440p to 4K is nearly identical to the penalty from 1080p to 1440p. This consistent delta across resolution steps suggests that the game's rendering pipeline at these settings is not memory-bandwidth limited, as the RTX 4080's 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth would be sufficient for this title. Instead, the data implies that the engine's draw call submission and physics calculations, which are CPU-bound, are the primary constraints, with the GPU only becoming the limiting factor at the 4K Ultra setting where the frame rate dips to 136 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 256-bit bus, plays a supporting role in this configuration. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is more than adequate for Dave The Diver's visual complexity, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 4K. The fact that the average FPS at 4K Medium (172 FPS) is only slightly lower than the 1440p Ultra (203 FPS) suggests that the GPU's rendering capabilities are not being fully stressed by this title's art style, which likely relies more on 2D sprites and simple 3D geometry than complex shaders.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz, are high, but the data indicates they are not the deciding factor in this game's performance. The frame rate deltas between settings at a fixed resolution are relatively small, pointing to a game that is not fill-rate limited. For instance, at 3840x2160, the difference between Low (206 FPS) and Ultra (136 FPS) is only 70 FPS, which is a modest penalty for a significant visual quality increase. This suggests the RTX 4080's 9728 shading units are processing the game's visuals with substantial headroom.

The GPU's 76 ray tracing cores are present, but the measured data does not indicate any ray tracing workload in the standard settings, as the performance scaling does not show the characteristic steep drop associated with RT effects. The passmark DirectX 12 score of 132, while low, is a synthetic metric that does not reflect the actual gameplay performance here. The benchmark results show that the RTX 4080 is effectively a high-refresh-rate monster for this title, providing 154 FPS at 4K High, which is a smooth experience for most users, but the CPU is clearly holding back the GPU's full potential at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For players with a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot. At 2560x1440 Medium, the system achieves 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS, providing a stable and fluid experience that exceeds the 240 Hz refresh rate of many gaming monitors. The jump to High at 1440p yields 230 FPS, which is still excellent, but the Medium preset's lower variance (a 77 FPS range versus no min/max data for High) suggests a more consistent frame pacing, which is crucial for a game with fast-paced action.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts to High settings, which delivers an average of 154 FPS. This is a significant step up from Medium's 172 FPS, but the High preset is the highest quality tier that maintains an average above 144 FPS, ensuring compatibility with 144 Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 136 FPS, which is still playable but introduces a more noticeable frame time inconsistency for users with high-refresh-rate panels. The data indicates that the Low preset at 4K (206 FPS) is unnecessary for visual quality, as the game's art style benefits from higher settings.

The measured rows show that the Low preset is only useful for competitive play at 1080p, where it hits 408 FPS, but this is a niche use case for a single-player adventure game. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 342 FPS and a minimum of 290 FPS, is the highest preset that guarantees a frame rate above 300 FPS, which could be relevant for future display technology. However, for the vast majority of users, the High preset at 1440p or 4K offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as the data shows diminishing returns in FPS when dropping from High to Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: Low 408 FPS, Medium 342 FPS, High 305 FPS, and Ultra 269 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 290 FPS and a maximum of 393 FPS, indicating a 103 FPS variance, which is the highest variance recorded in the dataset. This suggests that the CPU is hitting its thread scheduling limits during complex scenes, causing occasional frame drops even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low 307 FPS, Medium 257 FPS, High 230 FPS, and Ultra 203 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS, a 77 FPS variance, which is more controlled than at 1080p. This tighter variance indicates that the GPU is starting to take on more of the rendering load, smoothing out the CPU-induced spikes. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a 104 FPS drop, which is nearly identical to the 139 FPS drop seen at 1080p, but the absolute values are lower.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low 206 FPS, Medium 172 FPS, High 154 FPS, and Ultra 136 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS, a 52 FPS variance, which is the smallest variance in the dataset. This is a clear sign that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as its consistent rendering times are limiting the frame rate fluctuations. The Ultra preset at 4K, with 136 FPS, is the only measured setting that falls below the 144 Hz threshold, making it the only setting where the GPU's performance is truly critical.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this hardware combination?

A: The highest measured average is 408 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the peak performance figure in the dataset, indicating the CPU's maximum frame generation capability.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 a bottleneck in this game at 1440p?

A: The data suggests it is not. At 2560x1440 High, the system achieves 230 FPS, and at Medium it hits 257 FPS. The GPU's performance headroom is evident, as the frame rates are far above typical display refresh rates, indicating the CPU is the limiting factor.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra experience compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: The 4K Ultra setting averages 136 FPS, which is 67 FPS lower than the 203 FPS at 1440p Ultra. This is a significant drop, but the 4K frame rate remains above 120 FPS, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

Q: Which preset provides the most stable frame times?

A: The 3840x2160 Medium preset shows the smallest variance, with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS, a 52 FPS range. This indicates the most consistent frame pacing in the dataset, likely due to the GPU becoming the limiting factor.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core/12-thread configuration hold back the GPU at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data strongly implies this. At 1080p Low, the system produces 408 FPS, but the GPU is capable of much higher frame rates. The CPU's 3DMark max thread score of 6845 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15236 provide context for its throughput, which is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: Is there a setting where the GPU's 16 GB VRAM becomes a concern?

A: No, the measured data shows no evidence of VRAM limitations. The frame rates remain high even at 4K Ultra, and the game's art style does not appear to stress the memory capacity, as the performance scaling is smooth across resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is the unexpected star of this benchmark, as its performance dictates the frame rates at all resolutions below 4K Ultra. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, this CPU demonstrates exceptional single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1965 and Geekbench single-core score of 2603. This is crucial for Dave The Diver, which likely relies heavily on a single main game thread for logic and physics, given the high frame rates observed.

The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is the key enabler for the 408 FPS figure at 1080p Low. The data shows that the CPU's frame generation limit is around this 400 FPS mark, as the 3DMark single-thread score of 1060 and the 2-thread score of 2028 are not significantly different, suggesting that the game engine is not efficiently utilizing all 12 threads. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient to keep the game's working set close to the cores, avoiding memory latency penalties.

The nearest rivals to this CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and Intel Core i5-12600K, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (27578 vs 27636 for the 7600X), with delta percentages of only 0.2%. This indicates that the CPU's performance is comparable to those parts, but the 7600X's higher boost clock and newer architecture likely give it an edge in this game's single-threaded workload. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its strong position, but the data shows that even a more powerful CPU would not significantly improve frame rates at 1080p, as the game engine appears to have a frame rate ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 7600X and RTX 4080 achieves a combo rank of 215 out of 3710 tested combinations in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 5.8% of all systems. This high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's raw power, which ensures that the system can maintain high frame rates even at 4K, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance prevents the system from falling behind in CPU-bound scenarios. The ranking indicates that this is a top-tier setup for this game, outperforming the vast majority of other hardware pairings.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 86% among all GPUs is higher than the CPU's 79% ranking, which suggests that the GPU is a more significant contributor to the combo's overall standing. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p and 1440p, meaning that the combo's rank would be even higher if the game were more GPU-bound. The delta between the RTX 4080 and its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1%, indicating that the performance difference is negligible, and the combo's rank is more dependent on the CPU pairing.

The data reveals that this combo is overkill for 1080p gaming, as it produces frame rates that are four times higher than a standard 144 Hz display. The rank of 215 is impressive, but the actual gameplay experience is limited by the display's refresh rate, not the hardware. For 4K gaming, the combo provides a comfortable margin above 144 FPS on High settings, which is a significant achievement. The placement in the top 6% of combos suggests that users with this setup will have no performance concerns in this title, regardless of their resolution or settings preferences.