Dave The Diver

The Intel Core i5-10400F pairs a 6-core, 12-thread Comet Lake design with a 2.90 GHz base clock and a 4.30 GHz boost clock in Dave The Diver. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s position it as a mid-range desktop part from 2020, one whose 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP suggest efficiency rather than raw throughput. Benchmark data shows this CPU sits at the 68th percentile against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% faster), Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% slower), AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% faster), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% slower), indicating the i5-10400F lands in a tightly contested performance band where single-digit percentage swings separate it from both server and mobile parts.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's thread scaling matters more than its raw single-core strength. The 3dmark scores show a jump from 1350 at 2 threads to 3929 at 8 threads, then 4748 at 16 threads, meaning the processor leverages its 12 threads effectively when the game's simulation and AI routines spread across cores. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10283 versus a single-core score of 1451 highlights that this chip is built for parallel workloads, which suits a game like Dave The Diver that manages ocean ecosystems and NPC schedules. The Passmark multithread score of 12115 and integer math score of 41471 further confirm that the CPU handles the background logic of the game without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions, where frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, where the GPU is least taxed, the average FPS reaches 178, a figure that would be constrained by any CPU limitation; the data shows the i5-10400F keeps pace with the RTX 2060 even at that extreme.

The single-thread performance, measured at 688 in 3dmark single-thread and 2541 in Passmark single-thread, is adequate for the game's core loop but not exceptional. Dave The Diver's top-down diving and restaurant management scenes rely on consistent frame pacing rather than massive physics calculations, so the CPU's 3dmark 4-thread score of 2560 suggests it can handle the main game thread plus a few auxiliary tasks. The Geekbench multicore score of 6257 and single-core score of 1420 reinforce that the i5-10400F is a balanced part, one that will not hold back the RTX 2060 in this title. The data indicates that as resolution rises, the CPU's role diminishes relative to the GPU, but at 1080p High, the 133 average FPS shows the processor still provides headroom for the graphics card to work at full capacity. The Passmark physics score of 696, while low compared to other tests, does not translate into poor game performance here because Dave The Diver's physics are lightweight, focused on water splashes and item pickups rather than destructive simulation.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 brings 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, paired with a TU106 chip on a 12 nm TSMC process. Its base clock runs at 1365 MHz, boosting to 1680 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The GPU houses 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 30 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores, delivering 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This configuration, from the GeForce 20-series, sits at the 58th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15290. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmarks are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (0% difference), AMD Radeon 680M (0.1% faster), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (0.6% faster), and AMD Radeon RX 7600 (0.8% faster), showing the RTX 2060 holds its own against much newer integrated and entry-level discrete solutions.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU's VRAM capacity and bandwidth are the primary determinants of performance across settings. The game's pixel-art style with modern lighting effects does not demand heavy texture streaming, but the 6 GB frame buffer is sufficient for all tested presets. The measured FPS shows a clear pattern: at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 59 FPS, which is exactly at the threshold where the GPU's 6 GB capacity and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth start to strain under the pixel count and shader complexity. The switch from Low to Ultra at 4K costs 31 FPS (90 to 59), a 34% reduction, which is a direct consequence of the GPU's fill rate and shading throughput. The pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s become limiting factors at 3840x2160, where the GPU must process over 8 million pixels per frame.

The RTX 2060's DirectX 12 Ultimate support, evidenced by its 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242, ensures compatibility with the game's rendering pipeline, though Dave The Diver does not appear to leverage ray tracing or DLSS, as no such features appear in the measured data. The Passmark DirectX 12 score of 53 is lower than DirectX 11 (110) and DirectX 9 (190), which suggests the game might be running on an older API path where the GPU's architecture excels. The GPU's 160 W TDP and dual-slot design make it a standard mid-range card, and its 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die provide enough compute for the game's 2D-3D hybrid scenes. At 1080p Ultra, the 117 average FPS indicates the GPU is not fully saturated, leaving headroom for higher refresh rates, while at 4K High, the 67 FPS shows the card is working near its limits, with the 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores available but unused in this title's workload.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-10400F compare to its closest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon 6756E (14163) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core 7 160UL (14232). Against the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), it is 0.5% faster, and versus the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277), it is 0.6% slower. These deltas indicate the CPU sits in a narrow performance band where no rival has a decisive advantage.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average FPS is 178, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. At the same resolution with Medium settings, the average drops to 149 FPS, and at High settings it is 133 FPS. This shows that even at the lowest settings, the combo produces frame rates well above 144 Hz for competitive or high-refresh displays.

Q: Does the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related stutters, as the minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 64, with an average of 75. At 4K Ultra, the average is 59 FPS, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS target. The 6 GB capacity appears sufficient for Dave The Diver's art style, which does not require massive texture packs, so the limitation at 4K is more about raw GPU compute than memory capacity.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 133 at 1920x1080 to 100 at 2560x1440, then to 67 at 3840x2160. This represents a 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K (133 to 67 FPS), indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's role remains constant.

Q: What is the combo's rank out of all tested combinations in Dave The Diver?

A: This Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combo ranks 2922 out of 3710 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid range of the database. This rank reflects the age of both components relative to newer hardware, but the measured FPS shows the combo still delivers smooth gameplay at most settings.

Q: Is there a settings preset where the combo maintains above 60 FPS at all resolutions?

A: Yes, the Low preset maintains an average above 60 FPS at all resolutions: 178 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p, and 90 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset also stays above 60 FPS at all resolutions, with a minimum of 64 FPS at 4K, making it the safest choice for consistent performance across display types.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame data places this configuration at rank 2922 out of 3710 tested combinations, which means approximately 79% of all tested combos outperform it. This rank is a product of the i5-10400F's 68th percentile CPU standing and the RTX 2060's 58th percentile GPU standing, both of which are mid-pack performers. The rank of 2922 suggests that while this pair is not competitive with modern high-end systems, it is far from the bottom, and the measured FPS data confirms it delivers playable frame rates in Dave The Diver. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% faster), do not appear in the combo rankings, but the GPU's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (0.8% faster), likely appears in more favorable combos, pushing this pairing down the list.

The rank reflects a balanced but aging duo. The i5-10400F's 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient for the game, but newer CPUs with higher single-thread scores would reduce frame time spikes. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 6.451 TFLOPS are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 59 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many users target. The data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it ranks above the 50th percentile of all combos in terms of playable FPS, but at 4K, it falls below that threshold. The 3710 total combos include many with newer GPUs like the RTX 3050 OEM (0.6% faster) or RX 7600 (0.8% faster), which provide similar or better performance with lower power draw, explaining the relatively low rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 178 FPS, Medium averages 149 FPS with a minimum of 127 and maximum of 171, High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 117 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 61 FPS, indicating that the GPU scales well with settings at this resolution, and the CPU is not a bottleneck even at the highest frame rates. The minimum FPS at Medium (127) is still above 120, suggesting consistent frame pacing without major dips.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain highly playable. Low settings yield 134 FPS, Medium averages 112 FPS (minimum 95, maximum 129), High averages 100 FPS, and Ultra averages 88 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is roughly 25-33%, which is consistent with the pixel count increase of 78%. The minimum FPS at Medium (95) shows that even in demanding scenes, the combo stays above 90 FPS, making 1440p a viable resolution for high-refresh monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. Low settings average 90 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS (minimum 64, maximum 86), High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra averages 59 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with averages falling by 33-39% despite the pixel count increase of 125%, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units are saturated. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (64) is still above 60, but at Ultra, the average of 59 FPS means the combo cannot maintain a locked 60 FPS at the highest settings. The data shows a clear trend: 1080p is the sweet spot, 1440p is comfortable, and 4K requires dropping to Medium or Low for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p Medium, the average of 149 FPS with a minimum of 127 FPS provides a fluid experience on any display, while at 1440p Medium, the 112 FPS average (minimum 95) is still excellent for 144 Hz panels. Even at 4K Medium, the 75 FPS average and 64 FPS minimum ensure that the game remains playable, though not at ultra-high refresh rates. The Medium preset benefits from the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM, which is not fully taxed at this setting, and the CPU's 12 threads handle the game's AI and simulation without causing frame drops.

For users with a 1080p 60 Hz display, the Ultra preset at 117 FPS is overkill, but it provides headroom for future content. For 1440p users, Ultra at 88 FPS is acceptable, but High at 100 FPS is a better choice if they prefer smoother motion. At 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for consistent 60+ FPS, as High drops to 67 FPS average and Ultra falls below 60 FPS. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (178 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p, 90 FPS at 4K), sacrifices visual fidelity for performance that the game does not require. The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset for this combo, as it maintains above 60 FPS at all resolutions and provides a visual upgrade over Low without the performance penalty of High or Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this combo. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 149 at 1080p to 112 at 1440p (a 25% reduction) and then to 75 at 4K (a 33% reduction from 1440p, or 50% from 1080p). This scaling pattern is not linear with pixel count, which would suggest a 44% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 56% drop from 1440p to 4K if the GPU were purely pixel-bound. The fact that the actual drops are smaller indicates that the CPU is partially limiting performance at 1080p, where the high frame rates (149 FPS) require the i5-10400F to work harder to feed the GPU.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more telling: 178 FPS at 1080p, 134 FPS at 1440p (a 25% drop), and 90 FPS at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p, or 49% from 1080p). The larger absolute FPS values at 1080p suggest the CPU is the limiting factor there, as the RTX 2060 could likely render more frames if the CPU could keep up. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 4748 and the Passmark multithread score of 12115 indicate the CPU has a ceiling around 180 FPS in this game, which is why the Low preset at 1080p tops out at 178 FPS. As resolution increases, the GPU's load grows, and the scaling becomes more GPU-bound, as evidenced by the 4K Low average of 90 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold.

The data implies that at 1080p, the i5-10400F is the primary limiter, preventing the RTX 2060 from reaching its maximum potential. At 4K, the roles reverse, and the GPU's 6.451 TFLOPS and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cap the performance. The sweet spot where both components are balanced appears to be around 1440p, where the FPS scaling aligns more closely with pixel count (78% more pixels, 25% fewer FPS), indicating that neither component is dramatically over or underutilized. For users seeking to maximize frame rates, 1080p Low is the choice, but for a balanced experience, 1440p Medium offers the best compromise between CPU and GPU load, with the combo delivering 112 FPS average and a minimum of 95 FPS.