Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

Dave The Diver presents an interesting case for high-end hardware analysis, as the measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a title that is far more demanding than its pixel-art aesthetic suggests. The combination of AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA's flagship RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance, with even the most demanding settings remaining well above the refresh rate of typical high-end displays. The data shows a clear progression from 1080p through 1440p to 4K, with each step up in resolution exacting a predictable toll on average frame rates. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 306.6 FPS, while the same settings at 2560x1440 drop to 234.3 FPS, and at 3840x2160 the average falls to 154.9 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates a title where the GPU becomes progressively more influential as pixel count rises, though even at 4K, the performance headroom remains substantial.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of Dave The Diver reveals a GPU-bound workload that responds predictably to increased pixel counts. Moving from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra, the average frame rate drops from 306.6 FPS to 234.3 FPS, a reduction of approximately 23.6%. The subsequent step from 1440p to 4K Ultra shows a further decline to 154.9 FPS, representing a 33.9% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern of diminishing returns at higher resolutions is consistent with a title where the RTX 5090's rendering capabilities are the primary constraint. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is relatively modest, with the Low preset achieving 366.7 FPS versus 306.6 FPS for Ultra, a difference of 60.1 FPS. This narrows the performance envelope at lower resolutions, suggesting that the CPU is beginning to play a more significant role in limiting maximum frame rates.

At 4K resolution, the settings spread widens considerably. The Low preset at 3840x2160 produces 235.8 FPS, while Ultra drops to 154.9 FPS, creating an 80.9 FPS differential. This expanded range at 4K indicates that the GPU's workload becomes the dominant factor, with each incremental increase in graphical fidelity exacting a measurable cost. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 196.7 FPS, positioning it closer to the High preset's 174.2 FPS than to Low, which suggests that the scaling between Medium and High is relatively linear. The data reveals that the RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 512-bit bus are not bottlenecks at any tested resolution, as even the most demanding settings maintain frame rates far above what would be considered playable.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X brings substantial processing power to this pairing, with 16 cores and 32 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture. The CPU's boost clock of 4.90 GHz and base clock of 3.40 GHz provide the single-thread performance necessary for games that rely on a primary rendering thread. Benchmark results for the 5950X show a 3dmark single-thread score of 944 and a passmark single-thread score of 3470, indicating strong per-core capabilities. The processor's 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth contribute to its ability to feed the RTX 5090 with data without creating a bottleneck. In Dave The Diver, the game's relatively simple geometry and limited draw distances compared to AAA titles mean that CPU overhead is moderate, allowing the 5950X to maintain high frame rates even at 1080p where GPU load is lowest.

The 5950X's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a cinebench r23 multicore score of 38607 and a passmark multithread score of 45424, ensures that any background tasks or game engine threads that scale across cores are handled with ease. The processor's percentile ranking of 93 among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 49062 place it in the upper echelon of desktop processors, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-14600K at 49166 (0.2% higher) and the Intel Core i5-14600KF at 49367 (0.6% higher). This proximity in average scores suggests that while the 5950X is not the absolute fastest CPU available, its performance is more than sufficient for Dave The Diver's requirements. The measured frame rates at 1080p, where CPU influence is most pronounced, show only a 60.1 FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings, indicating that the processor is not the limiting factor even in the most favorable conditions for CPU-bound scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured performance across resolutions and presets reveals that the Ultra preset offers the most compelling balance of visual quality and frame rate for this hardware combination. At 4K Ultra, the combo maintains 154.9 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most high-refresh-rate 4K displays and provides a smooth experience for the game's adventure gameplay. The High preset at 4K delivers 174.2 FPS, a 12.5% improvement over Ultra, but the visual differences between these two presets in a game with Dave The Diver's art style may not justify the performance trade-off for users with standard 60 Hz or 120 Hz displays. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates at 1440p, the High preset at 263.1 FPS offers an excellent experience, though the Ultra preset at 234.3 FPS still provides ample headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors.

The Medium preset serves as a sensible middle ground for users who want to ensure maximum stability across varied scenes. At 4K Medium, the average frame rate of 196.7 FPS provides a significant buffer above 144 Hz displays, while at 1440p Medium, the 296 FPS average approaches the territory where CPU limitations might begin to surface. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates at 366.7 FPS at 1080p and 235.8 FPS at 4K, sacrifices visual fidelity that may be noticeable in the game's detailed underwater environments. Given that even the most demanding configuration tested produces frame rates well above typical display refresh rates, the Ultra preset represents the optimal choice for this hardware combination, as it maximizes the visual experience without introducing any perceptible compromise in smoothness. The data shows that the RTX 5090's capabilities are best utilized when paired with the highest quality settings, as the performance headroom at lower presets would otherwise go unused.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database's tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a combo rank of 39 out of 1626 tested configurations. This places the combo in the top 2.4% of all tested pairings, reflecting the exceptional performance of both components. The ranking is particularly notable given that Dave The Diver is not a graphically intensive title by modern standards, yet the combination still secures a position among the top 40 configurations. The 5950X's average benchmark score of 49062 and the RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84306 contribute to this high ranking, with the GPU's percentile vs all GPUs at 94 and the CPU's percentile vs all CPUs at 93. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D with an average score of 84241 (0.1% lower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile with 84171 (0.2% lower), while the CPU's nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance within a 1.1% range.

The high rank suggests that this combination is well-balanced for the game's requirements, with neither component significantly bottlenecking the other. The 5950X's 16 cores and 32 threads provide ample processing headroom, while the RTX 5090's 21,760 shading units and 680 TMUs handle the rendering workload efficiently. The rank of 39 out of 1626 also indicates that there are only 38 other tested combinations that outperform this pairing in Dave The Diver, likely consisting of newer or more specialized hardware configurations. For users considering this combination, the data confirms that it delivers near-top-tier performance in this title, with the measured frame rates at all resolutions and settings exceeding what would be required for a smooth gaming experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 serves as the primary driver of performance in this pairing, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate ensure that even the most demanding rendering tasks are handled with ease. In Dave The Diver, the GPU's role becomes increasingly apparent as resolution scales upward, with the measured frame rates showing a consistent decline from 1080p to 4K across all settings presets. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz and base clock of 2017 MHz provide substantial processing throughput, while the 176 ROPs handle pixel output efficiently. The RTX 5090's benchmark performance, including a passmark G3D score of 39650 and a 3dmark steel nomad dx12 score of 14411, positions it as one of the most powerful consumer GPUs available.

The GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs and average benchmark score of 84306 demonstrate its dominance in the current hardware landscape. The nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, scores 84241, a mere 0.1% difference, indicating that the standard RTX 5090 sits at the very top of the performance hierarchy. In the context of Dave The Diver, the RTX 5090's extensive memory capacity of 32 GB proves more than sufficient for the game's textures and assets at 4K resolution, with no evidence of memory-related performance degradation. The GPU's 5 nm process node and 92,200 million transistors enable the high clock speeds and efficiency that contribute to the measured frame rates. The data indicates that the RTX 5090 is the component most responsible for the performance differences observed between settings presets, with the GPU's workload increasing proportionally with graphical fidelity and resolution.