Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an interesting case for the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination. The data shows this pairing is capable of delivering high frame rates across all tested resolutions, but the scaling pattern reveals a system that is primarily GPU-bound at higher settings, while the CPU's limitations become apparent only at the lowest settings and resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 74.6 FPS, which is comfortably playable, but the jump to 1080p Low yields 230.3 FPS, indicating a wide performance envelope that shifts based on the workload.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is significant but not extreme, which tells us a lot about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 172.2 FPS, while at 1440p High it drops to 129.8 FPS, and at 4K High it falls to 85.7 FPS. This represents a 50% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The pattern is similar across all presets, but the magnitude changes: at Low settings, 1080p yields 230.3 FPS, 1440p gives 173.5 FPS, and 4K produces 118.7 FPS.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p Low, the system is partially CPU-limited, as the i3-12100F's four cores and eight threads become the limiting factor. The difference between 1080p Low (230.3 FPS) and 1440p Low (173.5 FPS) is a 24.6% drop, which is less than the 50% reduction seen at High settings. This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU workload grows, and the RTX 4060 becomes the primary constraint. The 4K Low result of 118.7 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU still has enough headroom to push well past 60 FPS, but the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K (118.7 vs 74.6 FPS) is narrower than at 1080p (230.3 vs 153.1 FPS), confirming the GPU-bound nature at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of Dave The Diver, this specific combination ranks 931 out of 1626 tested combos. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, which is somewhat surprising given the high absolute frame rates. The ranking reflects not just raw performance but also how this combo compares to others using different CPUs and GPUs. The i3-12100F sits at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4060 is at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, indicating that neither component is a top-tier performer in its respective category.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (0.1% faster), Intel Core i7-1250U (0.4% slower), Intel Core i3-10105 (0.6% slower), and Intel Core i7-7700K (1.8% slower). This clustering shows that the i3-12100F's average benchmark score of 13516 is competitive with much more expensive processors, though the 4-core/8-thread configuration limits its performance in heavily threaded workloads. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (0.6% faster), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.7% faster), Intel Arc B580 (0.7% slower), and AMD Radeon 760M (0.8% slower), with the RTX 4060 scoring 23181 on average. The combo rank of 931 out of 1626 suggests that while this pairing delivers excellent frame rates, many other combinations achieve even higher performance, likely due to more powerful CPUs or GPUs in the tested pool.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p High, the combo produces 172.2 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p High, 129.8 FPS is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, while 4K High at 85.7 FPS remains fully playable. The Ultra preset provides diminishing returns: at 1080p it drops to 153.1 FPS, at 1440p to 118.1 FPS, and at 4K to 74.6 FPS. While these numbers are still acceptable, the performance cost of Ultra over High is noticeable, with a 23% reduction at 1080p and a 13% reduction at 4K.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 191.4 FPS at 1080p, 145.1 FPS at 1440p, and 99.9 FPS at 4K. However, the jump from Medium to High is relatively small in terms of frame rate impact (10% at 1080p, 11% at 1440p, 14% at 4K), making High the recommended choice for most users. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play or when targeting maximum refresh rates, as it delivers 230.3 FPS at 1080p but sacrifices visual fidelity. For 4K gaming, High at 85.7 FPS is the sweet spot, as it maintains high image quality while staying well above 60 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes, at 4K High settings the combo averages 85.7 FPS, and even at Ultra it maintains 74.6 FPS, both of which are comfortably above 60 FPS.

Q: What is the biggest performance difference between settings at 1080p?

A: The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 77.2 FPS, with Low at 230.3 FPS and Ultra at 153.1 FPS. The difference between Medium (191.4 FPS) and High (172.2 FPS) is only 19.2 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck for this combo?

A: At 1080p Low, the CPU appears to be a limiting factor, as the frame rate of 230.3 FPS is relatively high. At 4K Ultra (74.6 FPS), the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as the frame rate scales predictably with resolution.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 931 out of 1626 combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the lower-middle tier despite delivering high absolute frame rates.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: High settings at 1440p produce 129.8 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Ultra drops to 118.1 FPS, a minor reduction that may not justify the visual differences.

Q: Does the RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not show VRAM capacity limiting performance, as frame rates remain high even at 4K Ultra (74.6 FPS), suggesting the 8 GB allocation is sufficient for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for Dave The Diver's visual demands. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and boosts to 2460 MHz, with memory running at 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective). The 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs deliver 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which translates to the observed frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a Passmark G3D score of 19545 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302, placing it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. The data indicates that the RTX 4060 is well-suited for this game, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 74.6 FPS. The GPU's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but Dave The Diver's stylized graphics do not appear to heavily utilize ray tracing, allowing the card to maintain high frame rates across all settings. The GTX 780 Ti and RX 6600M are within 0.7% of the RTX 4060's average score, showing that the performance tier is competitive, but the Ada Lovelace architecture's efficiency is evident in the sustained frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes. Its benchmark performance includes a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and a single-core score of 1681, with a Geekbench multicore score of 7413 and single-core score of 2224.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role becomes apparent when analyzing the frame rate scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 230.3 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability. The 4-core configuration limits performance in scenarios where the game engine requires more threads, but the high single-thread performance (893 in 3DMark single-thread) ensures smooth gameplay. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3444 and multithread score of 14015 place it at the 72nd percentile, with rivals like the i7-7700K (1.8% slower) and i3-10105 (0.6% slower) showing similar capability. In this game, the i3-12100F provides sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4060 at standard settings, but at extremely high frame rates (above 200 FPS), its limitations become measurable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the combo delivers a wide range of performance depending on settings. Low produces 230.3 FPS, Medium yields 191.4 FPS, High achieves 172.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 153.1 FPS. The differences between presets are consistent, with each step up in quality costing roughly 20-40 FPS.

At 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show more separation between presets. Low delivers 173.5 FPS, Medium produces 145.1 FPS, High achieves 129.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 118.1 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings is a 24.6% reduction, while at Ultra the reduction is 22.9%.

At 4K, the performance is still strong but the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low produces 118.7 FPS, Medium achieves 99.9 FPS, High delivers 85.7 FPS, and Ultra drops to 74.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.1 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU workload is more uniform at this resolution. Across all resolutions, the High preset offers the most balanced experience, with frame rates ranging from 85.7 FPS at 4K to 172.2 FPS at 1080p, ensuring smooth gameplay regardless of display choice.