Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Dave The Diver, with the data showing this combo ranks 742nd out of 1,626 tested configurations. Across all tested resolutions, the system never dips below 86.8 FPS average, indicating that this pairing is far more than adequate for the game's demands. The bottleneck profile is telling: at 1080p the CPU begins to show its limits, while at 4K the GPU becomes the primary constraint, creating a balanced yet distinct scaling pattern that favors high-refresh-rate monitors at 1440p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling curve as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 174.1 FPS average; moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 132.5 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls further to 86.8 FPS. This represents a 50.2% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings, which is substantial but not catastrophic — the game remains playable at all resolutions.

The scaling pattern shifts depending on the preset. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p (260.9 FPS) to 1440p (197.5 FPS) is 24.3%, and the further drop to 4K (133.6 FPS) is another 32.4%. This indicates that at lower presets, the system is increasingly CPU-bound at 1080p, as the frame rate ceiling of 260.9 FPS appears limited by the i3-12100F's single-thread performance rather than the RTX 3070's capabilities.

The gap between Medium and High settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, High (194.8 FPS) is 11% slower than Medium (218.8 FPS), but at 4K, the difference shrinks to 12.2% (98.4 FPS vs 112 FPS). This suggests that at 4K, pixel throughput dominates, and the incremental shading cost of High over Medium becomes relatively less impactful. The data strongly indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot: at Ultra settings, the 132.5 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most high-refresh displays, while 4K Ultra at 86.8 FPS remains smooth but leaves less headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,681, which are strong for a quad-core part. The multi-threaded results are more modest: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 11,912, and Geekbench multi-core comes in at 7,413.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the frame rate reaches 260.9 FPS. This figure likely approaches the practical ceiling for this processor in this game, as the gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (260.9 vs 218.8 FPS) shows only a 16.1% penalty for higher settings — a relatively small cost that suggests the CPU is already near its limit even at Low. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4,051 and the 4-thread score of 2,859 indicate that the processor's four physical cores are well-utilized, but the game's threaded workload does not appear to scale significantly beyond 8 threads.

The CPU's percentile ranking versus all processors is 72nd, placing it above average. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, scores virtually identically on average (13,534 vs 13,516, a delta of -0.1%), which underscores that in synthetic benchmarks, the i3-12100F performs comparably to much more expensive parts — but in gaming, the core count limitation becomes apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with an 8 nm process, featuring 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation pipelines. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with a base clock of 1,500 MHz and a boost clock of 1,725 MHz. The GPU's FP32 throughput is 20.31 TFLOPS, and its PassMark G3D score of 22,214 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's bottleneck role becomes clear at 4K. At 4K Ultra, the system produces 86.8 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 133.6 FPS — a 35% improvement from lowering settings. This demonstrates that at 4K, the RTX 3070's pixel-pushing capability is the limiting factor, and reducing settings directly translates to higher frame rates. The GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, scores 27,985 on average versus the RTX 3070's 28,238 (a 0.9% delta), indicating the two cards are closely matched in synthetic benchmarks.

At 1080p, the GPU is rarely the constraint. The transition from High to Ultra at 1080p costs only 10.6% (194.8 to 174.1 FPS), while at 4K the same transition costs 11.8% (98.4 to 86.8 FPS). This consistency suggests the RTX 3070 handles the graphics workload efficiently across resolutions, and the frame rate differences at 1080p are more attributable to CPU limitations than GPU headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 742nd out of 1,626 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the 54th percentile of all tested configurations. This mid-pack ranking is noteworthy given the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits at the 72nd percentile and the GPU at the 72nd percentile, yet the combination performs slightly below what those individual rankings might suggest.

The data indicates that this pairing is balanced but not synergistic. The i3-12100F's 4-core design limits the system in CPU-bound scenarios, particularly at 1080p where frame rates are high but the CPU is clearly the ceiling. Meanwhile, the RTX 3070 provides ample GPU power for 1440p and 4K gaming, but at 4K Ultra the frame rate of 86.8 FPS shows the GPU is also working hard. The result is a combo that is competitive but not exceptional — it outperforms many lower-end pairings but falls short of configurations with higher-core-count CPUs.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i3-12100F is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-7700K (1.8% faster) and Intel Core i3-10105 (0.6% faster), while being 0.1% slower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX. For the GPU, the RTX 3070 is 0.9% faster than the RX 6600 XT and 1% faster than the GTX 980 Ti, but 0.6% slower than the AMD FirePro S7150. These narrow margins suggest that in this game, the specific component choices matter less than the overall balance of the system.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F sufficient for Dave The Diver?

A: Yes. The data shows the CPU achieves 260.9 FPS at 1080p Low and 194.8 FPS at 1080p High, which are well above playable thresholds. The 4-core, 8-thread configuration with a 4.30 GHz boost clock handles the game's workload effectively.

Q: Can the RTX 3070 handle 4K gaming in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 86.8, which is smooth. Lowering to 4K High raises this to 98.4 FPS, and 4K Medium reaches 112 FPS. All 4K presets exceed 60 FPS, making the game fully playable at 4K.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 2560x1440 at Ultra settings provides 132.5 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this resolution, the system has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates without CPU or GPU bottlenecks becoming apparent.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 28,238 is 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27,985) and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27,956), but 0.6% lower than the AMD FirePro S7150 (28,409).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at different resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as frame rates plateau around 260 FPS even at Low settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint, with a 35% FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings. At 1440p, the system is more balanced.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 194.8 FPS. This is well above 144 Hz refresh rates, making this setting suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates range from 174.1 FPS (Ultra) to 260.9 FPS (Low). The Medium preset delivers 218.8 FPS, and High achieves 194.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 33.3% reduction in frame rate, which is a moderate cost for the visual improvements.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decline across all presets. Low settings produce 197.5 FPS, Medium drops to 165.7 FPS, High reaches 149.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 132.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 32.9%, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling, indicating the GPU is handling the increased pixel count efficiently.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are: Low at 133.6 FPS, Medium at 112 FPS, High at 98.4 FPS, and Ultra at 86.8 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra penalty here is 35%, the largest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. Notably, the gap between Medium and High at 4K is 12.2%, while the gap between High and Ultra is 11.8%, showing diminishing returns at the highest settings.

The data reveals that the largest absolute FPS drop from 1080p to 4K occurs at Low settings: from 260.9 to 133.6, a 48.8% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop is 50.2% (174.1 to 86.8). This consistency suggests that resolution scaling is largely independent of the preset chosen, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at high pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 2560x1440 with High settings as the optimal configuration. This combination yields 149.6 FPS, which is 12.9% faster than Ultra at the same resolution (132.5 FPS) while providing nearly the same visual quality. The leap from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 11.4% performance, which is a significant penalty for what is typically a subtle visual upgrade in this game genre.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset at 218.8 FPS offers the best frame-rate headroom for competitive play, while High at 194.8 FPS is more balanced for visual fidelity. Ultra at 1080p (174.1 FPS) is still excellent but provides diminishing returns relative to High. For players with 144 Hz monitors, 1440p High is the clear choice, as it exceeds the refresh rate while maintaining high detail.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 112 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it delivers smooth performance with a 15.6% improvement over High (98.4 FPS). Ultra at 4K (86.8 FPS) is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, and the data suggests that the visual difference between Medium and Ultra at 4K may not justify the 22.5% performance cost.

For maximum frame rates, 1080p Low at 260.9 FPS is available, but given the game's genre and the system's capability at higher presets, this is unnecessary. The measured data strongly supports 1440p High as the default recommendation, with 1440p Ultra as the choice for players prioritizing visuals over frame-rate headroom.