Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combination of a 6-core Comet Lake CPU and the flagship Blackwell GPU produces a fascinating study in bottleneck behavior, where the RTX 5090's raw power is consistently held back by the aging i5-10400F. The data reveals a system that delivers playable framerates across all resolutions, but the scaling patterns suggest the CPU is the limiting factor in most scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where this system's bottleneck lies. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers 231 FPS, but at 1440p that number falls to 167 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 90 FPS. That's a 61% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which might seem steep, but the pattern changes dramatically when you look at the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system hits 271 FPS, yet at 4K Low it still manages 140 FPS — a 48% drop. The fact that even at 4K Low the framerate remains above 140 FPS indicates the RTX 5090 is nowhere near its performance ceiling in this game.

The more revealing metric is the difference between High and Low at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (271 FPS) and High (231 FPS) is only 40 FPS, suggesting the CPU is already struggling to feed the GPU even at the lowest settings. At 4K, the gap between Low (140 FPS) and High (90 FPS) expands to 50 FPS, which shows the GPU is becoming more involved as resolution increases. This is a classic sign of a CPU-limited system: the GPU has headroom, but the processor can't supply frames fast enough.

The Ultra preset data reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 197 FPS, which is only 34 FPS lower than High. But at 4K Ultra, it drops to 69 FPS — a 53% reduction from 4K High. This non-linear scaling suggests that at 4K Ultra, the game is finally pushing the GPU hard enough to make it the primary constraint, while at lower resolutions the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are the bottleneck.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 brings staggering specifications to this pairing: 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock sits at 2407 MHz, and it features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. These numbers place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% behind), which gives context to its positioning.

Yet in Dave The Diver, these massive specs translate to surprisingly modest framerates. The 4K Ultra result of 69 FPS is particularly telling — a GPU capable of 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute should theoretically crush a 2D adventure game. The VRAM allocation is also worth noting: 32 GB is far beyond what this game requires, and the 1.79 TB/s bandwidth remains largely underutilized. The benchmark data suggests the GPU is operating well below its potential, with the CPU unable to feed it enough draw calls to saturate its rendering pipeline.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking versus the CPU's 68th percentile creates a significant mismatch. When a GPU scores nearly 80,000 in average benchmarks but delivers only 90 FPS at 4K High in this title, it implies the game's workload is not GPU-bound. The RTX 5090's compute capabilities — 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate — are simply not being exercised. This is a game where the GPU's raw power is almost irrelevant; the limiting factor lies elsewhere.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 246 FPS with a minimum of 209 FPS and maximum of 283 FPS, which provides smooth gameplay with a comfortable margin above display refresh rates. At 1440p Medium, it hits 199 FPS (min 169, max 229), still well above the 144 Hz threshold for most monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the 107 FPS average (min 91, max 123) remains playable, and the minimum framerate of 91 FPS indicates consistent performance without severe dips.

The High preset is also viable but shows diminishing returns. At 1080p High, 231 FPS is only 15 FPS lower than Medium, but at 4K High, the drop to 90 FPS crosses below the 100 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset is not recommended at 4K, where 69 FPS falls below 70 FPS and may feel stuttery on high-refresh displays. At 1080p Ultra, 197 FPS is acceptable, but the visual gains over High are minimal for a 34 FPS cost.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest framerates (271 FPS at 1080p), sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that doesn't demand such extreme performance. The data suggests Medium at 1080p or 1440p is the sweet spot, with 4K Medium being a viable option for those with 4K displays who don't mind slightly lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 1,284th out of 3,710 tested combos for Dave The Diver, placing it in the 65th percentile of all tested systems. This is a surprisingly low ranking for a GPU that sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs and a CPU in the 68th percentile of all CPUs. The disconnect between component rankings and combo ranking highlights the severity of the CPU bottleneck.

The i5-10400F's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% ahead), Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% behind), AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% ahead), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% behind). These comparisons show the i5-10400F holding its own in synthetic benchmarks, but those tests don't reflect real-world gaming where its 6-core/12-thread configuration and 12 MB of L3 cache become limiting factors.

The RTX 5090's nearest rivals — Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% ahead), Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (0.6% ahead), RX 6850M XT (1.1% ahead), and Radeon Pro Vega 64X (1.4% behind) — are all data center or mobile parts, which underscores how the GPU's consumer gaming performance is being wasted in this pairing. The combo's 65th percentile ranking suggests that most systems with this GPU achieve far better results in this game, and the bottleneck is clearly the CPU.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 5090 being bottlenecked by the i5-10400F in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes. The evidence is strong: at 1080p, the framerate difference between Low and High settings is only 40 FPS (271 vs 231), indicating the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough frames to utilize its full power. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking versus the combo's 65th percentile ranking further confirms this mismatch.

Q: What framerate can I expect at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows 199 FPS average, with a minimum of 169 FPS and maximum of 229 FPS. This is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most gaming monitors and provides consistently smooth gameplay.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combination?

A: At Medium settings, yes — the system delivers 107 FPS average (min 91, max 123). However, at Ultra settings the framerate drops to 69 FPS, which may be too low for smooth gameplay on high-refresh 4K displays. High settings at 4K produce 90 FPS, which is borderline acceptable.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14,185, placing it within 0.6% of the Intel Core 7 160UL, Intel Xeon 6756E, AMD EPYC 7552, and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C. It ranks in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, showing it's a mid-range processor that struggles to keep up with the RTX 5090.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gameplay?

A: Medium provides 246 FPS average with a tight range of 209–283 FPS. While Low offers 271 FPS and Ultra offers 197 FPS, Medium gives the best balance of framerate and visual quality for this resolution.

Q: Does the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: The data suggests not. Dave The Diver is not a VRAM-intensive title, and the 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth goes largely unused. The bottleneck is the CPU, not memory capacity or bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest framerates across all settings. Low settings produce 271 FPS average, Medium 246 FPS (min 209, max 283), High 231 FPS, and Ultra 197 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 74 FPS, showing that the CPU limits the framerate at this resolution regardless of GPU load.

At 2560x1440, the framerates remain high but begin to show more differentiation. Low delivers 234 FPS, Medium 199 FPS (min 169, max 229), High 167 FPS, and Ultra 127 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra expands to 107 FPS, indicating the GPU is starting to influence performance more at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the pattern completes. Low produces 140 FPS, Medium 107 FPS (min 91, max 123), High 90 FPS, and Ultra 69 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread grows to 71 FPS but the absolute numbers drop significantly, with Ultra falling below 70 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is the only setting that maintains a minimum framerate above 90 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K 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 operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 64 KB L1 plus 256 KB L2 per core. Its memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth, which is modest by modern standards.

The CPU's benchmark scores tell a mixed story. In Cinebench R23, it scores 10,283 multi-core and 1,451 single-core. Geekbench shows 6,257 multi-core and 1,420 single-core. PassMark multithread delivers 12,115, with a single-thread score of 2,541. These numbers place it in the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,185. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% ahead), Intel Core 7 160UL (0.3% behind), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (0.6% behind).

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is critical. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for the game's logic, but the 4.30 GHz boost clock and 2.90 GHz base clock create a ceiling that the RTX 5090 cannot overcome. The 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is also a potential constraint, as the CPU must transfer data to the GPU efficiently. The benchmark results show that at 1080p, framerates barely exceed 270 FPS even at Low settings, suggesting the CPU's single-thread performance is the limiting factor. The game likely relies on a few heavily-threaded processes, and the i5-10400F's Comet Lake architecture, while competent, cannot match the throughput needed to fully utilize a GPU with 21,760 shading units. This is a case where the CPU's 68th percentile ranking directly explains the combo's 65th percentile positioning — the processor holds back an otherwise exceptional graphics card.