Dave The Diver

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 284.6 frames per second.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc Pro A60?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59,188, which is 1.9% higher than the Intel Arc Pro A60's average score of 60,326. In other words, the Arc Pro A60 sits slightly ahead of the RTX 5080 in this specific aggregate benchmark comparison.

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance score in Geekbench?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F scores 2,224 points in the Geekbench single-core test, while its multi-core score is 7,413.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 5% of tested configurations for this game?

A: No. The combo ranks 82nd out of 1,626 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 5.0% of all configurations tested for this title.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 325.3 FPS on average, while Ultra drops to 217.0 FPS — a difference of 108.3 FPS between the two extremes.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and what type is it?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 comes with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are substantial resources for a game like Dave The Diver, which is not typically considered a graphics-intensive title. The data suggests the GPU is rarely the limiting factor here — even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS remains above 146, which is far beyond what most displays can refresh.

The GPU's clock behavior is worth examining. With a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, the RTX 5080 maintains high frequencies throughout the measured scenarios. The memory clock is listed at 1875 MHz, translating to 30 Gbps effective. These figures, combined with 10,752 shading units and 112 ROPs, yield a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s. For a 2D-focused adventure game, these raw throughput numbers are excessive, which explains why even the heaviest preset at 4K produces triple-digit frame rates.

The GPU's benchmark percentile tells an interesting story. It sits in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 59,188. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A570M (1.6% slower), the Intel Arc Pro A60 (1.9% faster), and the Intel Arc A580 (2.5% slower). These are all relatively close scores, suggesting the RTX 5080 is not in a class of its own when measured by aggregate benchmarks — yet in this specific game, the measured FPS data shows the GPU providing massive headroom across all settings and resolutions.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are relevant for modern titles, though Dave The Diver's stylized visuals likely do not stress these features heavily. The 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die represent a dense design, but the game's modest rendering demands mean the RTX 5080 operates well below its theoretical limits in most measured scenarios.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide the single-thread performance that adventure games often rely on. In the Geekbench single-core test, it scores 2,224, while multi-core reaches 7,413 — a ratio that highlights its strength in lightly threaded workloads.

The CPU's benchmark results show a clear pattern: 3DMark scores scale from 893 (single-thread) to 4,051 (16-thread), with 8-thread and max-thread scores nearly identical at 4,026 and 4,023 respectively. This saturation point at 8 threads indicates the 4-core/8-thread design reaches its multi-threaded ceiling quickly. Cinebench R23 scores of 1,681 (single-core) and 11,912 (multi-core) reinforce this — the multi-core score is only about 7.1 times the single-core score, reflecting the limited scaling beyond 4 physical cores.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is likely modest. The game's 2D pixel-art style does not demand complex physics or AI simulations. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (362.2 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (284.6 FPS) shows only a 77.6 FPS drop when increasing settings, suggesting the GPU handles the extra load without the CPU becoming a bottleneck. Even at 4K Ultra (146.2 FPS), the CPU's 4 cores appear sufficient to feed the RTX 5080 adequately.

The i3-12100F's percentile rank of 72 among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,516, places it near the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (0.1% slower), Intel Core i7-1250U (0.4% faster), and Intel Core i3-10105 (0.6% faster). This clustering suggests the i3-12100F delivers competitive aggregate performance despite its modest core count, but in this game, the data shows the CPU rarely constrains the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how settings affect performance. At 1080p, the jump from Ultra (284.6 FPS) to High (322.0 FPS) is 37.4 FPS, while dropping to Medium (340.1 FPS) and Low (362.2 FPS) continues the trend. Given that all presets exceed 280 FPS at 1080p, the Ultra preset is the optimal choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing playability — the frame rates are so high that any preset provides a smooth experience.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts slightly. Ultra delivers 217.0 FPS, High 245.9 FPS, Medium 272.0 FPS, and Low 325.3 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High (28.9 FPS) is larger than the 1080p gap, but still, no preset drops below 217 FPS. For players with 144Hz or 165Hz displays, Ultra is the best choice — it remains well above refresh rate thresholds.

At 4K, the differences become more pronounced. Ultra averages 146.2 FPS, High 162.4 FPS, Medium 180.3 FPS, and Low 219.2 FPS. The Ultra-to-High delta (16.2 FPS) is the smallest relative difference among resolutions, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset. For 4K displays with 120Hz refresh, High offers a better balance. For 60Hz panels, any preset works, but Ultra provides the best image quality with 146.2 FPS still exceeding 60 FPS by a wide margin.

The data indicates that Ultra is the recommended preset for 1080p and 1440p, while High is the sensible choice at 4K to maintain higher headroom above 144 FPS. Low settings provide no practical benefit at any resolution, as even Ultra at 4K stays above 144 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 82nd out of 1,626 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places it in the top 5% of all configurations tested for this game — an impressive showing for a CPU that is not typically paired with a flagship GPU. The rank suggests the game is heavily GPU-bound, allowing the i3-12100F's moderate single-thread performance to keep pace.

The CPU's position among rivals is notable. It sits between the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (0.1% slower in aggregate benchmarks) and the Intel Core i7-1250U (0.4% faster). The i3-12100F's 72nd percentile rank among all CPUs means it outperforms 72% of processors in aggregate benchmarks, yet in this game, it achieves a top-5% combo ranking. This discrepancy highlights that Dave The Diver does not demand heavy multi-threaded CPU work.

The GPU's 89th percentile rank (among all GPUs) is more aligned with the combo's top-5% game ranking. The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 59,188 places it near the Intel Arc Pro A60 (1.9% faster) and Intel Arc A580 (2.5% slower), yet these rival GPUs are not typically paired with the i3-12100F in tested configurations. The data suggests that the combo's high rank comes from the GPU's raw power overcoming the CPU's modest core count.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of performance scaling.

At 1920x1080, the results are uniformly high. Low settings produce 362.2 FPS, Medium 340.1 FPS, High 322.0 FPS, and Ultra 284.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 77.6 FPS, representing a 21.4% drop from the lowest to highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the numbers remain elevated but show wider gaps. Low hits 325.3 FPS, Medium 272.0 FPS, High 245.9 FPS, and Ultra 217.0 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra delta is 108.3 FPS — a 33.3% reduction, indicating that resolution scaling amplifies the impact of settings.

At 3840x2160, the pattern intensifies. Low averages 219.2 FPS, Medium 180.3 FPS, High 162.4 FPS, and Ultra 146.2 FPS. The absolute drop from Low to Ultra is 73.0 FPS, but the percentage drop (33.3%) is similar to 1440p. Interestingly, the 4K Ultra figure (146.2 FPS) is still higher than many systems would achieve at 1080p with less capable hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS decline from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the drop from 362.2 FPS (1080p) to 219.2 FPS (4K) represents a 39.5% reduction. At Ultra settings, the drop from 284.6 FPS to 146.2 FPS is a 48.6% reduction. This larger percentage drop at Ultra suggests the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as both resolution and settings increase.

The data shows that 1440p sits roughly halfway between 1080p and 4K in performance. At Ultra, 1440p (217.0 FPS) is 23.7% lower than 1080p (284.6 FPS), while 4K (146.2 FPS) is 32.6% lower than 1440p. This non-linear scaling indicates the GPU is handling the pixel count increase efficiently, with no sudden cliff in performance.

Crucially, the CPU does not appear to bottleneck at any resolution. If the i3-12100F were the limiting factor, we would expect the FPS to plateau at higher resolutions — but the data shows continuous scaling from 1080p to 4K at every settings preset. The 1080p Low figure of 362.2 FPS is the highest measured, suggesting the CPU can sustain frame rates well above 360 FPS in this game, leaving the GPU as the sole determinant of performance across all tested configurations.