Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a demanding title, and the Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional frame rates across all tested configurations. The data shows that this pairing is capable of maxing out common high-refresh-rate displays even at 4K, with the primary performance ceiling being the CPU’s single-thread capability rather than the GPU’s raw throughput.

Settings Recommendations

The Ultra preset is the definitive choice for this combo, as it delivers the most visually complete experience while still maintaining frame rates well above 100 FPS at every resolution. At 4K, the Ultra preset produces an average of 136.5 FPS, which is still comfortably within the bounds of high-refresh gaming. For users with 1440p or 1080p displays, the Ultra preset yields averages of 204 FPS and 265.6 FPS respectively, making it the obvious pick for those seeking the best image quality without sacrificing smoothness.

The High preset offers a marginal performance gain over Ultra, with 4K improving to 155.5 FPS and 1440p reaching 229.3 FPS. This represents a roughly 14% uplift at 4K and 12% at 1440p, which is a modest trade-off for a reduction in graphical fidelity. Given that Ultra already clears the 60 FPS baseline by a wide margin, the visual benefits of staying on Ultra outweigh the performance headroom gained by dropping to High.

The Medium and Low presets are largely redundant for this hardware. The Medium preset at 4K produces 172.8 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 207 FPS, but these settings sacrifice significant visual quality for frame rates that are already achievable on higher settings. The data suggests that users should select Ultra for the best experience, with High as a fallback for those who prioritize maximum frame rates on 240 Hz or faster displays at 1080p.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Dave The Diver’s textures and scene complexity, as evidenced by the minimal frame rate penalty when moving from Low to Ultra settings. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 70.5 FPS (from 207 FPS down to 136.5 FPS), indicating that the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems are scaling with the increased load without hitting a bandwidth wall.

The card’s boost clock of 2550 MHz, combined with 10240 shading units, delivers a peak FP32 throughput of 52.22 TFLOPS. This raw compute power is clearly not fully utilized by the game, as the benchmark results show that even at 4K Ultra, the combo is likely bottlenecked by the CPU in certain scenes. The GPU’s performance percentile of 88 places it above the majority of all tested GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 53610 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, its closest rival. This margin is negligible, but the RTX 4080 SUPER’s advantage becomes apparent in the measured frame rates, which are consistently high across all settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Core i3-12100F and RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 113th out of 1626 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 7% of all paired hardware configurations. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s strength, as the CPU’s performance is below average relative to the rest of the field. The i3-12100F’s average benchmark score of 13516 places it at the 72nd percentile of all CPUs, which is respectable for a budget quad-core, but it lags behind the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 88th percentile ranking.

The data indicates that this combo is GPU-bound at higher resolutions, which allows the RTX 4080 SUPER to shine. However, at lower resolutions like 1080p, the CPU’s limitations become more pronounced, preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential. This is a classic pairing of a high-end GPU with a mid-range CPU, and the combo rank reflects that the GPU carries the bulk of the performance load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers blistering performance. The Low preset averages 360.4 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset drops slightly to 337.5 FPS, while High averages 303.8 FPS. The Ultra preset is the slowest at this resolution, but it still averages 265.6 FPS. These numbers are all above 240 FPS, making the combo ideal for esports-grade monitors even at the highest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain extremely high. The Low preset averages 305.9 FPS, Medium averages 258.2 FPS, and High averages 229.3 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 204 FPS, which is a 23.2% drop from the Low preset at the same resolution. This indicates that the GPU is still the primary driver of performance, but the CPU is beginning to exert more influence at these frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains excellent. The Low preset averages 207 FPS, Medium averages 172.8 FPS, and High averages 155.5 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 136.5 FPS, which is the lowest score in the dataset but still well above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh 4K displays. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, suggesting a balanced workload between the CPU and GPU.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER overkill for Dave The Diver?

A: The data suggests yes, as even at 4K Ultra, the combo averages 136.5 FPS. The GPU’s 16 GB memory and 52.22 TFLOPS compute are far beyond what this game requires, but the headroom ensures zero performance concerns.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: All three resolutions produce playable frame rates. The 1440p Ultra setting offers a sweet spot at 204 FPS, while 4K Ultra at 136.5 FPS is still excellent for high-refresh displays.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The i3-12100F’s average benchmark score of 13516 is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i7-1250U, showing it is competitive in synthetic tests.

Q: Does the Ultra preset cause any frame rate issues?

A: No, the Ultra preset never drops below 136.5 FPS at any resolution. The lowest recorded average is at 4K Ultra, which is still far above the 60 FPS standard.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is more likely to limit performance due to its 4-core/8-thread design, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as shown by the larger FPS drops when increasing settings.

Q: Can this combo handle future games?

A: While this analysis is specific to Dave The Diver, the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB memory and high compute power suggest strong longevity, though the i3-12100F’s lower core count may become a constraint.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide adequate bandwidth for most gaming workloads. The CPU’s single-thread performance is solid, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 893, but its multi-thread capabilities are limited by the low core count.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but it still impacts performance at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 94.8 FPS, which is less than the 70.5 FPS difference at 4K. This indicates that the CPU is able to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the frame rates are so high that the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes a limiting factor. The i3-12100F’s average benchmark score of 13516 places it 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10105 and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K, showing it is a capable budget option.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rates scale predictably with resolution, but the magnitude of the drop varies by settings. From 1080p to 4K, the Ultra preset drops from 265.6 FPS to 136.5 FPS, a 48.6% reduction. The Low preset drops from 360.4 FPS to 207 FPS, a 42.6% reduction. This smaller percentage drop at Low settings suggests that the CPU is more of a bottleneck at 1080p, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

The data shows that the combo is most efficient at 1440p, where the frame rates are high enough to avoid CPU bottlenecks but the resolution is high enough to utilize the GPU’s full capabilities. At 4K, the GPU’s compute power is still sufficient for over 136 FPS on Ultra, but the scaling indicates that the GPU is doing the majority of the work. For users with 4K displays, this combo delivers a flawless experience, while 1080p users will enjoy frame rates that are unnecessarily high, leaving performance headroom for future titles.