Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

This combination pairs a 10th-generation Intel six-core processor with a 12 GB Ada Lovelace GPU, and the measured frame rates across three resolutions show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited in a game that is not particularly demanding. The RTX 4070 SUPER, sitting in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, delivers playable and often very high frame rates even at 4K, while the i5-10400F, in the 68th percentile of CPUs, never appears to be the bottleneck in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but not catastrophic, revealing a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 242 FPS at 1920x1080 to 200 FPS at 2560x1440, a drop of 42 FPS, and then to 134 FPS at 3840x2160, a further drop of 66 FPS. That means 4K High delivers 55% of the 1080p High performance, which is a typical scaling curve for a GPU-heavy workload.

The Low settings preset shows a similar relative decline: 268 FPS at 1080p, 244 FPS at 1440p, and 179 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 67% of the 1080p Low result, which is a slightly smaller percentage drop than at High, indicating that at lower graphical loads the CPU begins to exert more influence. At 1080p Low, the system hits 268 FPS, and at 1440p Low it reaches 244 FPS — the gap of only 24 FPS between those two resolutions is much smaller than the 34 FPS gap between 1440p and 4K, suggesting that the i5-10400F is starting to cap performance around the 240-270 FPS range.

The Medium preset illustrates this even more clearly. At 1080p Medium, the average is 252 FPS with a minimum of 214 FPS and a maximum of 290 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 224 FPS with a minimum of 190 FPS and a maximum of 257 FPS. The spread between minimum and maximum frames is 76 FPS at 1080p and 67 FPS at 1440p, which indicates some frame-time variance but no severe stuttering. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 150 FPS, with a minimum of 127 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest scaling: 232 FPS at 1080p, 176 FPS at 1440p, and 118 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is just 51% of the 1080p Ultra result, which is the largest relative drop across all presets. This is expected, as Ultra settings typically include the most demanding effects that scale heavily with pixel count.

The data indicates that the limiting component at 1080p and 1440p is not the GPU, but rather the CPU or some other system limit, as the frame rates at 1080p High (242 FPS) and 1440p High (200 FPS) are both well above what a typical monitor would display. At 4K, the RTX 4070 SUPER becomes the clear bottleneck, with the average FPS dropping in a linear fashion as pixel count increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. These specifications translate into direct performance in Dave The Diver, where the GPU is tasked with rendering what appears to be a stylized 2D/3D hybrid adventure game.

The GPU's clock speeds are 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, which are modest numbers for a modern high-end card, but the architecture's efficiency means it can still push very high frame rates. The 7168 shading units and 80 ROPs provide the raw compute and pixel throughput needed to sustain 118 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is a demanding scenario for any GPU.

The memory configuration is particularly relevant here. The 12 GB GDDR6X capacity is ample for a game like Dave The Diver, which is not known for requiring excessive VRAM. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for 4K textures and effects, as evidenced by the fact that the GPU can maintain 134 FPS at 4K High without any signs of memory-related stuttering. The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium is 127 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. It scores 29,995 in Passmark G3D, which places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (deltaPct -0.1), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (deltaPct -0.2). This means the RTX 4070 SUPER is essentially tied with those cards in aggregate benchmarks, but in practical gaming terms, the RTX 4070 SUPER's modern architecture and driver support give it an edge in titles like Dave The Diver.

The GPU's compute capabilities are also notable: 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 and 35.48 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1), along with 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores. These are overkill for Dave The Diver, which is not a ray-tracing-heavy title, but they ensure headroom for other games.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 792 out of 3710 total combinations. This places it in the top 21% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing considering the CPU is from the 10th generation (2020) while the GPU is from the 40-series (2024).

The rank is a reflection of the GPU's dominance in this pairing. The i5-10400F, with an average benchmark score of 14,185, sits in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E (deltaPct 0.2), the Intel Core 7 160UL (deltaPct -0.3), the AMD EPYC 7552 (deltaPct 0.5), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (deltaPct -0.6). These are all server or low-power mobile chips, which suggests the i5-10400F's desktop-oriented performance is competitive despite its age.

The combo rank of 792 out of 3710 means there are 791 other combinations that perform better in this specific game. Given that the RTX 4070 SUPER is in the 83rd percentile of GPUs, the bottleneck is clearly the CPU in terms of overall system ranking. However, the measured FPS data shows that this bottleneck only manifests at very high frame rates (above 240 FPS), which are beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

In practical terms, a user with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor will see no difference between this combo and a higher-ranked one, as the frame rates at 1440p and 4K are all above 118 FPS. The rank is more relevant for users with 240 Hz or 360 Hz displays who are chasing maximum frame rates at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 200 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values reported for that specific preset.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 43,223, which is 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262) and 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268). It is 1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43,667).

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 127 FPS, with an average of 150 FPS and a maximum of 172 FPS.

Q: Is the i5-10400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests partial CPU limiting at 1080p. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 268, and at 1440p Low it is 244, a drop of only 24 FPS. This small gap between resolutions indicates the CPU is capping performance in the 240-270 FPS range.

Q: What is the combo's rank in the database?

A: This combination ranks 792nd out of 3,710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 21% of all tested systems.

Q: What are the GPU's memory specifications?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s and a memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on your display's resolution and refresh rate. For 4K displays, the High preset at 134 FPS average is the sweet spot — it delivers a 16 FPS improvement over Ultra (118 FPS) while being only 16 FPS slower than Medium (150 FPS). The jump from Medium to High costs 16 FPS, but the visual quality improvement is typically worth it for a game like this. If you have a 120 Hz 4K display, the Ultra preset at 118 FPS is borderline playable, but you may experience occasional dips below the refresh rate.

For 1440p, the High preset at 200 FPS is the recommended choice. It provides a massive 24 FPS improvement over Ultra (176 FPS) and is only 24 FPS slower than Medium (224 FPS). The difference between Medium and High is small in percentage terms (11%), but the visual fidelity gain is noticeable. If you have a 240 Hz 1440p display, the Low preset at 244 FPS is the only way to fully utilize the refresh rate, but the visual compromise may not be worth it.

For 1080p, the situation is more nuanced. The Ultra preset at 232 FPS is 10 FPS faster than High (242 FPS), which is a negligible difference. The Medium preset at 252 FPS and Low preset at 268 FPS are faster but offer diminishing returns. For most 1080p users with 144 Hz or 165 Hz displays, the High preset at 242 FPS is more than sufficient, and the Ultra preset's 232 FPS is also excellent. The only reason to drop to Medium or Low would be if you have a 280 Hz or 360 Hz display and want to maximize frame rates.

The data shows that the game is not particularly demanding, as even the 4K Medium preset maintains a minimum of 127 FPS. The recommended approach is to prioritize High settings at any resolution, as it offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. Ultra provides a modest FPS penalty that may not be worth it for most users, while Medium and Low offer only marginal gains that are unlikely to be perceptible on standard refresh rate displays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the data indicates it does so adequately, but with limitations at very high frame rates. The CPU's benchmark scores show a strong multi-threaded performance: it scores 10,283 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,318 in Cinebench R20 multi-core. Single-thread performance is 1,451 in Cinebench R23 and 609 in Cinebench R20, which is competitive for a 2020 processor.

The 3DMark scores are revealing: 4,748 in 16-thread, 3,929 in 8-thread, and 2,560 in 4-thread tests. The scaling from 4-thread to 8-thread (53% improvement) and from 8-thread to 16-thread (21% improvement) suggests that the CPU benefits from additional threads, but with diminishing returns. In Dave The Diver, which is likely not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU's 12 threads provide enough headroom for background tasks without impacting frame rates.

The Passmark multi-thread score of 12,115 and single-thread score of 2,541 place the CPU in a competitive position. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6756E, has a deltaPct of 0.2, meaning the i5-10400F is essentially tied with that server chip. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320C is 0.6% behind, showing that the i5-10400F's performance is still relevant.

The data shows that the CPU begins to limit performance at 1080p Low, where the FPS caps at 268. This is not a problem for most users, but it does mean that the full potential of the RTX 4070 SUPER cannot be realized at 1080p with very low settings. At 1440p and above, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU provides consistent frame delivery without stuttering, as evidenced by the minimum FPS values at Medium settings (214 at 1080p, 190 at 1440p, 127 at 4K).

The i5-10400F's 65W TDP and 14 nm process are dated by modern standards, but in a game like Dave The Diver, the CPU's performance is more than adequate. The combination of 6 cores and 12 threads at a 4.30 GHz boost clock provides solid single-thread performance, which is what matters most for this title. The CPU's 68th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms that it is not a weak link in this system, even if it is not the newest architecture.