Dave The Diver

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers remarkably high frame rates in Dave The Diver, placing this pairing in a strong position among tested systems. The data shows a system that is massively overqualified for the game's demands, with performance headroom that makes resolution and settings choices purely preferential rather than a compromise.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower settings but begins to balance out as the resolution increases. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 408 FPS to 307 FPS, a reduction of 101 FPS. This trend continues when stepping up to 3840x2160, where the Low preset yields 206 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 24.8%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 32.9%, indicating that the GPU is still managing the workload effectively but the scaling is becoming less linear.

At the High settings tier, the same resolution progression shows 305 FPS at 1080p, 230 FPS at 1440p, and 154 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 33.0% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The Ultra preset follows a similar pattern: 269 FPS at 1080p, 203 FPS at 1440p, and 136 FPS at 4K. The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings suggests that the scaling behavior is primarily dictated by the resolution itself, not by the graphical complexity of the scene.

The Medium preset is the only tier with complete min/max data, showing a 4K average of 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS. At 1440p, this preset averages 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS, and at 1080p it averages 342 FPS with a minimum of 290 FPS and a maximum of 393 FPS. The frame time consistency, as evidenced by the min/max spread, remains tight even at 4K, where the difference between the minimum and maximum is 52 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 4080 is not being pushed to its thermal or power limits, as the variance does not widen dramatically at higher resolutions.

The limiting component shifts depending on the resolution and settings combination. At 1080p Low, the 408 FPS average is likely approaching the point where the CPU's single-thread performance becomes a factor, as the Ryzen 7 7700's 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 is respectable but not the highest in its class. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the primary driver, with the 136 FPS average reflecting the increased pixel throughput demands on the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and the 256-bit memory bus. The data indicates that the RTX 4080 has sufficient bandwidth at 716.8 GB/s to handle 4K textures without becoming a bottleneck, as the scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K only costs 36 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, is the dominant component in this configuration. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves more than adequate for Dave The Diver's art style and scene complexity. The GPU's 9728 shading units and 112 ROPs handle the game's pixel workload efficiently, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 4K.

The clock speeds of 2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost are relatively modest for a high-end GPU, yet the architectural efficiency of the Ada Lovelace design compensates for any clock disadvantage. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput needed to maintain smooth performance across all tested settings. The GPU's FP32 compute capability of 48.74 TFLOPS is far beyond what this game requires, which explains the headroom seen in the benchmark results.

The RTX 4080's performance percentile of 86 versus all GPUs places it in the upper echelon, and its average benchmark score of 54247 is only 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54209. This near-parity in synthetic benchmarks translates to the game's measured performance, where the GPU does not appear to be the limiting factor until the highest resolution and quality settings. The GPU's 320 W TDP and triple-slot cooler design suggest it is running well within its thermal envelope during Dave The Diver sessions, as the frame rates do not fluctuate wildly between the minimum and maximum measurements.

The VRAM allocation is generous for this title. With 16 GB available, the game's textures and geometry at 4K Ultra settings are unlikely to exceed even half of the available memory. This means there is no risk of texture streaming issues or stuttering due to memory pressure, which is a common problem in less optimized titles. The memory clock of 1400 MHz, translating to 22.4 Gbps effective, provides the necessary bandwidth to feed the GPU's cores without delay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions. At 4K, the Medium setting delivers 172 FPS, which is only 18 FPS less than High but 36 FPS more than Ultra. The min/max data for Medium at 4K shows a tight 146-198 FPS range, indicating consistent frame pacing. This preset is the sweet spot for players with high refresh rate displays.

For 1440p users, the High preset at 230 FPS is recommended for those prioritizing image quality, as it still comfortably exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The jump from Medium to High at this resolution costs 27 FPS, which is a reasonable trade-off for improved shadows and post-processing. The Ultra preset at 203 FPS remains viable, but the visual gains over High are marginal in this game's stylized aesthetic.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 269 FPS is the best choice, as the performance penalty from High to Ultra is only 36 FPS, and the system has ample headroom to maintain high refresh rates. The Low preset at 408 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 360 Hz or faster display. The Medium preset at 342 FPS offers a middle ground, but the visual downgrade from Ultra is noticeable in texture quality and draw distance.

The data indicates that the game is not particularly demanding on GPU resources, so users can prioritize visual settings without worrying about significant performance degradation. The difference between Low and Ultra at any given resolution is consistent, with Ultra costing roughly 34% of the Low preset's frame rate. This suggests that the game's rendering pipeline scales predictably with quality settings, allowing users to make informed choices based on their display capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4080 and Ryzen 7 7700 combination produces exceptional results. The Low preset averages 408 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. The Medium preset reduces this to 342 FPS, with a minimum of 290 FPS and a maximum of 393 FPS. The High preset averages 305 FPS, and the Ultra preset settles at 269 FPS. All of these values are well above the refresh rate of standard gaming monitors, making 1080p a resolution where the system is almost entirely CPU-limited.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain extremely high. The Low preset averages 307 FPS, while the Medium preset delivers 257 FPS with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS. The High preset averages 230 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 203 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 25% across all settings, which is a smaller penalty than typically seen in more demanding titles, further indicating the game's light GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable-to-excellent frame rates. The Low preset averages 206 FPS, the Medium preset averages 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS and a maximum of 198 FPS, the High preset averages 154 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 136 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the minimum frame rate is not recorded, suggesting it remains high enough to be considered smooth. The Medium preset's min/max spread of 52 FPS at 4K is the widest in the dataset, but this is still a narrow range for a GPU under load.

The complete dataset shows a clear hierarchy: Low > Medium > High > Ultra at every resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening slightly as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 139 FPS, at 1440p it is 104 FPS, and at 4K it is 70 FPS. This narrowing gap indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor, reducing the absolute frame rate differences between settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 215th out of 3710 tested combinations in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 5.8% of all systems. This rank reflects the high average frame rates achieved across all resolutions, but the position is not higher because many other combinations likely feature faster CPUs or GPUs that push even higher frame rates in this undemanding title.

The GPU's individual performance percentile of 86 versus all GPUs is slightly lower than its rank in this game suggests, indicating that the RTX 4080 is well-suited to this specific workload. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (54209 vs 54247, a 0.1% difference), which means the two cards would likely produce very similar results in this game. The other rivals, such as the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X with a score of 54828 and a -1.1% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB with a score of 55698 and a -2.6% delta, are actually ahead in synthetic benchmarks but may not translate that lead to real-world gaming performance.

The CPU's percentile of 87 versus all CPUs is slightly higher than the GPU's percentile, and its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 with an average score of 40048 (a 0.1% delta), followed by the Intel Core 5 221E at 40144 (-0.2% delta). The Ryzen 7 7700's average benchmark score of 40081 places it in a tight cluster of comparable CPUs, meaning the choice of processor likely has minimal impact on Dave The Diver's performance given the high frame rates already achieved.

The rank of 215 out of 3710 is a strong result, but it is notably the top 215 combinations likely include higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or newer generation cards. The RTX 4080's end-of-life production status means it is no longer being manufactured, but its performance in this game remains competitive with current offerings. The combination's placement in the 94th percentile of tested systems demonstrates that it is a top-tier configuration for this title, even if it does not top the charts.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is critical for games like Dave The Diver that may not scale perfectly across many cores. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1930 demonstrate its capability in lightly-threaded workloads.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides low-latency access to frequently used data, which helps maintain consistent frame times. The 65 W TDP is modest for an 8-core processor, and the data suggests that the CPU is not thermally constrained during gaming sessions, as the frame rates do not show signs of throttling.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is less demanding than in more complex simulations. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484 and max-thread score of 8479 indicate that the CPU can handle high thread counts when needed, but the game likely relies more on single-thread performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4063 and Geekbench single-core score of 2525 further emphasize the CPU's strength in this area. The CPU's average benchmark score of 40081 places it in the 87th percentile, slightly ahead of its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, by 0.1%.

The Ryzen 7 7700's memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed data to the GPU without creating a bottleneck. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. The CPU's integrated Radeon Graphics are not utilized in this configuration, but their presence does not detract from performance. The launch MSRP of $329 for this CPU is a data point, but the focus remains on its measured performance.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game's performance. At 1080p Low, the 408 FPS average approaches the practical limits of the game engine, and the CPU's single-thread performance is likely what prevents even higher frame rates. However, this is not a negative observation; it simply means the CPU is performing its role effectively without becoming a bottleneck at more realistic settings. The combination of the Ryzen 7 7700's strong single-thread performance and the RTX 4080's massive GPU throughput creates a balanced system that delivers exceptional performance across all tested resolutions and settings.