Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents a unique performance profile for the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination, where the measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings reveal a system that is decisively GPU-bound at higher presets, yet shows surprising headroom at lower settings. The data indicates this pairing consistently delivers playable performance, with the most significant bottleneck shifts occurring at 1080p Low, where the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration begins to show its limits relative to the GPU’s output capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F operates with 6 cores and 12 threads, built on the Comet Lake architecture with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. In the context of Dave The Diver, this processor handles the game's simulation logic, AI routines, and scene management. The benchmark data shows the CPU’s multi-threaded potential is moderate, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10283, placing it at the 68th percentile against all CPUs. The single-thread score of 1451 in Cinebench R23 indicates that per-core performance is competent but not exceptional.

The game’s demands on the CPU are clearly visible when comparing the 1080p Low preset, which hits 196 FPS average, to the 1440p Low preset at 147 FPS. The drop of 49 FPS when increasing resolution by 1.78x suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is near its maximum output for this title. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748, compared to the max-thread score of 4735, shows that the processor’s performance scales almost perfectly with thread utilization, meaning the game can leverage all 12 threads when needed. However, the data also reveals a ceiling: the single-thread 3DMark score of 688 is relatively low, which explains why the CPU cannot push frame rates beyond the 196 FPS observed at 1080p Low, even when the GPU has additional capacity.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-10400F bottleneck the AMD Radeon RX 7600 in Dave The Diver?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the CPU appears to be the limiting factor, as the average FPS of 196 represents a significant jump from the 146 FPS at High settings, but the GPU could likely produce more frames if the CPU allowed. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with the FPS dropping to 65, indicating the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain high frame rates?

A: The 1440p resolution offers the best balance, with High settings producing 110 FPS average and Ultra producing 97 FPS. This keeps the frame rate well above 60 FPS while allowing for higher visual fidelity than 1080p.

Q: How does the RX 7600's 8 GB VRAM affect performance at 4K?

A: The measured data shows that at 4K High, the average FPS is 74, and at 4K Medium, it is 83 with a minimum of 70 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game at these settings, as the performance drop from Medium to High is only 9 FPS, indicating texture memory is not causing a significant penalty.

Q: Is the 65W TDP CPU sufficient for sustained gaming sessions?

A: The benchmark results indicate stable performance across all measured configurations, with no signs of throttling in the FPS data. The 65W TDP is within the expected range for the 6-core/12-thread configuration, and the game’s moderate CPU demands allow for consistent output.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163) and 0.5% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115). It trails the Intel Core 7 160UL by 0.3% (14232) and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.6% (14277), showing very tight competition in this performance tier.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 129, which is 67 FPS lower than the Low preset. This demonstrates that while the GPU can handle the load, the Ultra settings introduce enough graphical complexity to reduce frame rates substantially.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 146 at 1080p to 110 at 1440p, then to 74 at 4K. This represents a 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, followed by a 32.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The relative decrease is consistent with the pixel count increase, indicating the RX 7600 is the primary limiter in this range.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly different: 196 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.7%, mirroring the High preset scaling. This suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is the dominant constraint at 4K. However, the 1080p Low result of 196 FPS stands out as an anomaly, as the CPU’s limitations prevent the GPU from reaching its full potential at that resolution. The data shows that the CPU is capable of roughly 196 FPS maximum in this game, regardless of lower graphical loads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 196 at Low settings to 129 at Ultra. The Medium preset achieves 164 FPS with a minimum of 139 FPS and a maximum of 188 FPS. The High preset delivers 146 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 34.2% reduction in performance, which is expected for the increased graphical fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 147 at Low to 97 at Ultra. The Medium preset produces 123 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 142 FPS. The High preset achieves 110 FPS. The performance drop from Low to Ultra is 34%, consistent with the 1080p scaling, confirming the GPU is the limiting factor in this resolution range.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 99 at Low to 65 at Ultra. The Medium preset delivers 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS and a maximum of 95 FPS. The High preset achieves 74 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 34.3%, showing that the GPU’s workload scales uniformly with resolution and settings. The 4K Medium minimum of 70 FPS is notable as it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. It operates with a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. In Dave The Diver, the GPU’s role is to render the game’s 2D sprites and 3D environments with high fidelity.

The benchmark data shows the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K across all settings. The Passmark G3D score of 16634 places it at the 57th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM at 15199, a 0.2% difference. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS is sufficient for this game’s graphical demands, as evidenced by the 4K High average of 74 FPS. However, the significant drop from 1080p High (146 FPS) to 4K High (74 FPS) — a 49.3% reduction — shows that the 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth are adequate but not excessive for 4K gaming.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the High preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 146 FPS, which is 17 FPS lower than Medium but provides improved graphical fidelity. At 1440p, High achieves 110 FPS, comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra drops to 97 FPS. At 4K, High produces 74 FPS, which is playable, but Medium at 83 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS offers a more consistent experience.

For users prioritizing frame rate stability, the Medium preset is recommended, as it provides the only measured minimum FPS values across all resolutions: 139 FPS at 1080p, 105 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that Medium avoids the frame time spikes that could occur at higher settings. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, shows a 11.5% performance drop from High at 1080p (129 vs 146 FPS) and a 12.6% drop at 1440p (97 vs 110 FPS), suggesting diminishing returns for the additional graphical load.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination ranks 2563 out of 3710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the 31st percentile of all system configurations. This ranking reflects the pairing’s mid-range positioning, where the CPU’s 68th percentile standing is partially offset by the GPU’s 57th percentile performance. The measured FPS data shows that this combo outperforms its ranking in practice, particularly at lower resolutions, where the 1080p High average of 146 FPS exceeds what the rank might suggest.

The ranking indicates that most tested combos deliver higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs. However, the measured data shows that this specific pairing remains viable for the game, with even the lowest measured configuration (4K Ultra at 65 FPS) staying above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The combo’s rank is more indicative of its position relative to high-end systems, rather than a reflection of its actual gaming capability in this title. The data demonstrates that for Dave The Diver, this mid-range combo provides a smooth experience across most settings, with the only notable compromise being at 4K Ultra where frame rates dip to 65 FPS.