Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core i5-11400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a remarkably strong experience in Dave The Diver, a game that clearly favors high-frequency single-thread performance over massive multi-core throughput. This combo ranks 124th out of 1,626 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7.6% of all pairings evaluated for this title. The data shows that the RTX 5080 carries the bulk of the workload at higher resolutions, while the i5-11400F's boost clocks keep frame rates exceptionally high at 1080p. Across all tested settings and resolutions, this pairing never drops below 141 frames per second on average, indicating that the combination is well-balanced for the game's demands, though the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 124 out of 1,626 places this pairing in the 92nd percentile of all tested configurations for Dave The Diver. This is a strong showing, but the analysis of the rank requires nuance: the game's performance ceiling appears to be heavily influenced by the CPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU matters more at 4K. The measured data supports this interpretation — at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS of 317.9 is barely higher than the 285.1 FPS seen at 2560x1440 Low, suggesting that the i5-11400F is nearing its practical limit in this title. Conversely, at 3840x2160, the spread between Low (220.2 FPS) and High (166.2 FPS) is much wider, indicating the RTX 5080's capabilities are being more fully exercised. The rank of 124 is impressive, but it is not a top-tier result because the i5-11400F, while competent, does not deliver the extreme single-thread performance that would push this combo into the top 50. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 75 and the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 89 reinforce this — the GPU is a top-tier part, while the CPU is merely above-average, creating an imbalance that shows up in the game's frame pacing at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz are the key specifications for understanding its role in Dave The Diver. The game, being an adventure title with likely moderate CPU demands, responds well to the high boost clock, which explains why the combo achieves 317.9 FPS at 1080p Low. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores are telling: 3dmark_single_thread scores 868, Cinebench R23 single-core scores 2,029, and Geekbench single-core scores 1,979. These are solid numbers, but not exceptional for a modern desktop part. The multi-thread scores — Cinebench R23 multi-core at 14,372 and Passmark multithread at 16,908 — show that the 6-core/12-thread configuration provides adequate parallel throughput, but Dave The Diver likely does not scale heavily beyond a few threads. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game, but the data suggests that the i5-11400F's performance ceiling is reached at around 318 FPS in this title. The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database — the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (avg score 17,189, delta 0%), Intel Core i7-1260P (avg score 17,212, delta -0.2%), Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (avg score 17,215, delta -0.2%), and Intel Core i5-1240U (avg score 17,141, delta 0.2%) — all fall within a narrow performance band, indicating that the i5-11400F is firmly in the mid-range of CPU performance. This explains why the combo rank is good but not elite: the CPU cannot keep up with the GPU's potential at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications make it clear why. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 2,295 MHz and boost clock of 2,617 MHz, combined with 10,752 shading units, allow it to push frame rates well beyond what the CPU can supply at 1080p. The GPU's benchmark scores are exceptional: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 scores 8,637, Passmark G3D scores 36,565, and Geekbench OpenCL scores 264,461. The RTX 5080's percentileVsAllGpus of 89 confirms its top-tier status, and its nearest rivals — the Intel Arc A570M (avg score 58,239, delta 1.6%), Intel Arc Pro A60 (avg score 60,326, delta -1.9%), Intel Arc A580 (avg score 57,756, delta 2.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (avg score 57,661, delta 2.6%) — all score significantly lower, though the deltas are relatively small in percentage terms. In Dave The Diver, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution scales. At 3840x2160, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 78.9 FPS (220.2 vs. 141.3), a 56% performance drop that is entirely attributable to the GPU's workload. The RTX 5080's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game at any resolution, and its 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores are likely underutilized in a title that probably does not employ heavy ray tracing or DLSS. The GPU's 360 W TDP and 750 W suggested PSU are not relevant to in-game performance, but they indicate the hardware's power envelope. The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, is built on a 5 nm process from TSMC with 45,600 million transistors, which explains its efficiency and raw throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 317.9 FPS, Medium 295.3 FPS, High 283.7 FPS, and Ultra 272.6 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is only 45.3 FPS, indicating that the CPU is the bottleneck at this resolution — even at Ultra settings, the RTX 5080 has ample headroom, but the i5-11400F cannot push beyond roughly 318 FPS. At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 285.1 FPS, Medium 266.4 FPS, High 241.0 FPS, and Ultra 214.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 70.5 FPS, showing that the GPU begins to take on more responsibility at this resolution. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 220.2 FPS, Medium 184.7 FPS, High 166.2 FPS, and Ultra 141.3 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread here is 78.9 FPS, the largest of any resolution, confirming that the GPU is the primary driver at 4K. Notably, the performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 97.7 FPS (317.9 down to 220.2), while at Ultra settings it is 131.3 FPS (272.6 down to 141.3). This indicates that the RTX 5080's performance degrades more steeply with resolution when settings are higher, which is expected for a GPU-bound scenario. The data also shows that the transition from Medium to High at 4K costs 18.5 FPS, while the transition from High to Ultra costs 24.9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest settings. Overall, the combo is playable at all settings and resolutions, with even the lowest result (141.3 FPS at 4K Ultra) far exceeding typical refresh rates.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for high refresh rate gaming or 4K gaming?

A: The data shows it excels at both, but for different reasons. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves between 272.6 and 317.9 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate monitors. At 3840x2160, it still delivers between 141.3 and 220.2 FPS, which is more than enough for 4K gaming at 144 Hz. The CPU limits performance at 1080p, while the GPU handles 4K well.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-11400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17,181. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (avg score 17,189, delta 0%), Intel Core i7-1260P (avg score 17,212, delta -0.2%), Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (avg score 17,215, delta -0.2%), and Intel Core i5-1240U (avg score 17,141, delta 0.2%). All are within 0.2% of each other, meaning they are virtually identical in overall CPU performance.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between settings at a given resolution?

A: The largest Low-to-Ultra gap is at 3840x2160, where the difference is 78.9 FPS (220.2 vs. 141.3). This indicates that the GPU is most heavily taxed at 4K with high settings. At 1920x1080, the gap is only 45.3 FPS, confirming a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Q: Does the RTX 5080's 16 GB VRAM matter for Dave The Diver?

A: The game is not VRAM-demanding, but the 16 GB GDDR7 memory with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory capacity is never a limiting factor at any resolution or settings. The GPU's 256-bit bus width provides ample bandwidth for this title.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59,188. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Arc A570M (avg score 58,239, delta 1.6%), Intel Arc Pro A60 (avg score 60,326, delta -1.9%), Intel Arc A580 (avg score 57,756, delta 2.5%), and AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (avg score 57,661, delta 2.6%). The RTX 5080 sits between these rivals, with the Intel Arc Pro A60 scoring slightly higher.

Q: What is the playability at the lowest performance point?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 141.3 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is still above 140 FPS, meaning the combo never drops below high refresh rate territory in this game, regardless of settings or resolution. The comboRankInGame of 124 out of 1,626 confirms this is a top-tier pairing for Dave The Diver.