Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, an adventure title released on 2023-06-27, presents an interesting scaling profile when paired with the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. The measured data shows that this combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU only becoming a noticeable factor at 1080p. At 4K Ultra, the system delivers 132.4 FPS, which rises to 155 FPS at High settings. The frame rate ceiling at 1080p Low is 269.5 FPS, suggesting that the i5-10400F's six cores and twelve threads are sufficient to keep the RTX 4080 SUPER well-fed, though the scaling curve indicates diminishing returns as resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 4K to 1440p to 1080p reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario with a CPU ceiling emerging at the lowest resolution. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average frame rate is 132.4 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440 Ultra increases this to 204.1 FPS, a substantial 54% uplift. Moving further down to 1920x1080 Ultra yields 232.1 FPS, which is only a 13.7% improvement over 1440p. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the RTX 4080 SUPER's rendering capabilities are the primary limiter until the resolution drops enough for the CPU to become the bottleneck.

At High settings, the scaling is similar: 155 FPS at 4K, 222 FPS at 1440p, and 243.2 FPS at 1080p. The 1440p to 1080p jump is just 9.5%, compared to the 43.2% leap from 4K to 1440p. This suggests that the i5-10400F's 2.90 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clocks begin to constrain performance below 1440p, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. The data shows that the most significant frame rate gains occur when moving from 4K to 1440p, while the 1080p gains are comparatively modest, confirming that this combo is best suited for high-refresh 1440p gaming or 4K at 60+ FPS.

The Low preset data reinforces this analysis. At 4K Low, the system hits 202.4 FPS, while 1440p Low reaches 245.3 FPS and 1080p Low tops out at 269.5 FPS. The gap between 4K Low and 1080p Low is 67.1 FPS, but the gap between 1440p Low and 1080p Low is only 24.2 FPS. This narrowing delta at lower resolutions is a clear sign that the CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth (42.7 GB/s) are becoming the limiting factors, rather than the GPU's 736.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth or 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process node. Its benchmark scores place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168. In multi-threaded workloads, it scores 10297 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 4324 in Cinebench R20 multicore. Single-thread performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1453 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1454. These numbers indicate a capable mid-range CPU that can handle modern game engines, but it lacks the high single-thread performance of newer architectures.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 269.5, which is likely near the engine's frame rate cap or the CPU's practical limit. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735 show that the CPU's multi-threading capabilities are adequate, but the single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark suggests that per-core performance is the bottleneck. This is further evidenced by the Passmark single-thread score of 2541, which ranks below many newer processors.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-10400F is closely matched with the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% faster), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (-0.8%), Intel Core i5-8500 (-1.1%), and AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (-1.2%). These delta percentages show that the i5-10400F sits in a tight performance band, meaning its gaming performance in CPU-bound scenarios will be similar to these alternatives. However, the RTX 4080 SUPER's sheer power means that even a modest CPU like this can push high frame rates in an adventure title like Dave The Diver, which likely does not have demanding AI or physics simulations.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 269.5, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 53610, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414), 2.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (52505), and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086).

Q: Is the i5-10400F a bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: No. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the system delivers 132.4 FPS, and at High it reaches 155 FPS. The GPU is the clear limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the significant FPS gains when lowering resolution.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Ultra and Low settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 204.1 FPS while Low averages 245.3 FPS, a difference of 41.2 FPS. Medium sits between at 228.5 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in this game?

A: It ranks 279th out of 1626 tested combos, placing it in the top 17% of all systems tested for Dave The Diver.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU in this combo?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER has a launch MSRP of 999 USD.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 279th out of 1626 tested combinations in Dave The Diver. This places it in the top 17.2% of all systems, which is a strong showing given the CPU's age and market position. The ranking reflects the GPU's dominance in this title, as the RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile standing among all GPUs (with an average benchmark score of 53610) compensates for the CPU's more modest 73rd percentile position.

The data suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. At 1440p Ultra, the system achieves 204.1 FPS, which is only 28 FPS shy of the 1080p Ultra result of 232.1 FPS. This indicates that the i5-10400F is not severely limiting performance at 1440p, and users can enjoy high refresh rates without sacrificing visual quality. The 279th rank out of 1626 combos is respectable, but it could be improved with a newer CPU that has higher single-thread performance, as indicated by the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 688.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data indicates that 1440p High settings offer the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 2560x1440 High, the system averages 222 FPS, which is 17.9 FPS higher than Ultra and only 23.3 FPS lower than Low. This provides a smooth, high-refresh experience without the minor graphical compromises of Medium (228.5 FPS) or Low (245.3 FPS). The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is 17.9 FPS, which is a small price to pay for the visual improvements Ultra likely offers.

For users with 4K displays, High settings are recommended over Ultra. At 3840x2160 High, the system achieves 155 FPS, which is 22.6 FPS higher than Ultra's 132.4 FPS. This still provides a high-refresh experience at 4K, while Medium (169.8 FPS) offers diminishing returns in visual quality for a modest 14.8 FPS gain over High. Low settings at 4K (202.4 FPS) are only recommended for competitive play, as the graphical downgrade is likely severe.

At 1080p, the situation is different. The CPU becomes the limiting factor, so the settings preset has less impact on frame rates. Ultra averages 232.1 FPS, High averages 243.2 FPS, Medium averages 252.3 FPS, and Low averages 269.5 FPS. The largest gap is between Low and Ultra at 37.4 FPS, but all presets exceed 230 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. Therefore, 1080p users should enable Ultra settings to maximize visual quality, as the performance cost is minimal relative to the overall frame rate. The measured data shows that this combo is capable of excellent performance across all resolutions, with the only caveat being that 4K Ultra requires a tolerance for frame rates below 144 FPS.