Dave The Diver

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a remarkably fluid experience in Dave The Diver, with the data showing that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the primary performance driver at 4K, while the i5-12400F becomes more relevant at lower resolutions. The measured results indicate this combination is overkill for 1080p gaming, but the scaling curve suggests that the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the limiting factors when pushing towards 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable degradation as resolution increases, but the rate of decline highlights where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 215 FPS, which drops to 162 FPS at 1440p and 108 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33.3% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the GPU is being progressively more taxed as pixel count rises.

Looking at High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers: 161 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 81 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 24.8% and 33.1% respectively, showing that the relative performance hit of resolution scaling is nearly identical regardless of quality preset. This consistency suggests that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units are being utilized efficiently, with no sudden cliff or unexpected collapse.

The most telling data point comes from the gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the spread is 73 FPS (215 to 142), but at 1440p it narrows to 55 FPS (162 to 107), and at 4K it further compresses to 36 FPS (108 to 72). This shrinking delta indicates that at 4K, the GPU is nearing its saturation point—the extra work required for Ultra settings cannot be fully compensated because the raw pixel throughput demands are already consuming most of the available resources. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 113.3 GPixel/s pixel rate are being pushed to their limits.

The medium preset data provides the only min/max values in the entire dataset, and these are instructive. At 4K Medium, the combo averages 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 and maximum of 104. At 1440p Medium, the average climbs to 135 FPS with a range of 115 to 156. At 1080p Medium, the average reaches 180 FPS with a range of 153 to 207. The fact that the min/max spread widens at lower resolutions (54 FPS spread at 1080p versus 27 FPS at 4K) suggests that at 1080p, CPU frame pacing variations become more visible, whereas at 4K, the GPU's consistent workload smooths out these fluctuations.

The data strongly indicates that the i5-12400F with its 6 cores and 12 threads is not the limiting factor until frame rates exceed roughly 160 FPS. At 4K Ultra, where the combo produces 72 FPS, the GPU is clearly the constraint. But at 1080p Low, the 215 FPS result suggests the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU, given that the i5-12400F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 are robust figures. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and max-thread score of 5912 further corroborate that this processor has ample headroom for this game's demands.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the combo averages 81 FPS, which is smooth for most players. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 72 FPS, still playable but with less headroom. The 4K Low preset reaches 108 FPS, showing that the GPU can deliver high frame rates if visual fidelity is reduced.

Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware combination?

A: The data shows that 1440p High settings at 121 FPS offers an excellent balance. It provides 49.4% more performance than 4K High while maintaining high visual quality. For players with 144Hz monitors, 1440p Medium at 135 FPS or 1440p High at 121 FPS are both viable options.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F bottlenecking the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: The evidence suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 215 FPS, and the 1080p Ultra preset still delivers 142 FPS. The i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, appear sufficient for this game's demands, as the FPS scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, which places it just below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, -1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2% delta). It also trails the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3% delta) and Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta). Despite these minor benchmark deltas, the measured FPS results in this game are strong.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested systems?

A: The data places this combo at rank 2150 out of 3710 tested combinations. This puts it in the upper-middle tier, meaning roughly 42% of tested combos perform better, while 58% perform worse. Given that this is a 1080p-oriented game by design, the 4K performance is respectable.

Q: Should I use the Low preset for competitive play?

A: If maximizing frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 1080p yields 215 FPS, which is 33.5% higher than the Medium preset's 180 FPS. However, the Medium preset at 1080p still delivers 180 FPS with a minimum of 153 FPS, suggesting that the visual quality upgrade may be worth the modest FPS trade-off.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS—the only 4K preset with recorded minimum values, suggesting better frame pacing stability than the other presets. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 17 FPS (108 to 91), but the visual upgrade from Low to Medium is typically substantial in this genre, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays.

At 1440p, the High preset at 121 FPS is the sweet spot for gamers with high refresh rate monitors. The Medium preset delivers 135 FPS, but the 14 FPS gain may not justify the loss of visual fidelity. The Ultra preset drops to 107 FPS, which is still above 100 FPS but begins to sacrifice the smoothness that makes this game's underwater environments enjoyable. For 1440p users prioritizing frame rate above all, Low at 162 FPS is available, but High represents the best compromise.

For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 142 FPS is the recommended choice. The game is clearly GPU-bound at this resolution, and the RTX 2070 SUPER has enough headroom to run maximum settings while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. The 1080p Ultra result of 142 FPS is 46.4% higher than the 4K Ultra result of 72 FPS, demonstrating that 1080p users get the full benefit of this hardware. The High preset at 161 FPS is acceptable for those wanting extra headroom, but Ultra is within reach.

The Medium preset's min/max data across all resolutions suggests it provides the most consistent frame delivery. At 1080p, the 153-207 FPS range (54 FPS spread) is wider than at 4K, where the 77-104 FPS range (27 FPS spread) shows tighter consistency. This indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU's workload is more uniform, reducing frame time spikes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the combo produces a tight cluster of results. The Low preset leads with 108 FPS, followed by Medium at 91 FPS (min 77, max 104), High at 81 FPS, and Ultra at 72 FPS. The progression shows a 14.9% drop from Low to Medium, a 11% drop from Medium to High, and a 11.1% drop from High to Ultra. The total scaling from Low to Ultra is 33.3%, indicating that the Ultra preset demands significantly more GPU resources than Low.

At 2560x1440, the results scale up substantially. Low reaches 162 FPS, Medium hits 135 FPS (min 115, max 156), High achieves 121 FPS, and Ultra delivers 107 FPS. The percentage drops are 16.7% from Low to Medium, 10.4% from Medium to High, and 11.6% from High to Ultra. The 1440p results are consistently 33-50% higher than their 4K counterparts, with the largest absolute gain at Low (54 FPS) and the smallest at Ultra (35 FPS).

At 1920x1080, the combo demonstrates its peak capability. The Low preset produces 215 FPS, Medium reaches 180 FPS (min 153, max 207), High achieves 161 FPS, and Ultra delivers 142 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is 33.9%, nearly identical to the 4K scaling, but the absolute numbers are dramatically higher. The 1080p Low result of 215 FPS is 99.1% higher than the 4K Ultra result of 72 FPS, showing the full range of this hardware's capabilities.

The Medium preset's min/max data reveals interesting patterns. At 1080p, the variance is 54 FPS (153 to 207), at 1440p it is 41 FPS (115 to 156), and at 4K it is 27 FPS (77 to 104). This narrowing variance at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, smoothing out the frame delivery. The average FPS for Medium settings at each resolution (180, 135, 91) shows a consistent 25% drop per resolution step, confirming the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 2150 out of 3710 tested combinations, placing it in the 58th percentile of all tested systems. This means that 58% of tested combos perform worse, while 42% perform better. Given that this is an adventure game with a 2023-06-27 release date, the hardware is well-suited to the game's demands, but it is not at the modern.

The CPU component, the Intel Core i5-12400F, ranks in the 73rd percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19039. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047, 0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, -0.1% delta), the Intel Core i5-1335U (18982, 0.3% delta), and the AMD EPYC 7773X (18979, 0.3% delta). This places the i5-12400F in a tight cluster of mid-range processors, with negligible performance differences among the group.

The GPU component, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, ranks in the 65th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20282. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, -1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, -1.2% delta), the Intel Arc B570 (20556, -1.3% delta), and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, -1.5% delta). The RTX 2070 SUPER trails these rivals by 1-1.5%, which is a minor gap in synthetic benchmarks but may translate to a few FPS in real-world gaming.

The combo rank of 2150 reflects the combined performance of both components. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking is higher than the GPU's 65th percentile, suggesting that the processor is relatively stronger than the graphics card. This is consistent with the FPS data, which shows the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The processor has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration.

Benchmark data shows the i5-12400F's strengths in multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 indicate balanced performance. The 3DMark tests show a progression from 909 (single-thread) to 1699 (2 threads) to 3067 (4 threads) to 4779 (8 threads) to 5895 (16 threads) and finally 5912 (max threads). The marginal gain from 16 threads to max threads (17 points) suggests that the 12 threads are fully utilized by the 16-thread test, with no additional scaling available.

The Geekbench scores of 9472 (multi-core) and 1964 (single-core) further corroborate the processor's capability. The PassMark multi-thread score of 19433 and single-thread score of 3481 show that this CPU can handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads effectively. The PassMark physics score of 1202 is notable for gaming, as physics calculations often rely on CPU performance.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 215 FPS, which is well above typical monitor refresh rates. The i5-12400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 18 MB of L3 cache are sufficient for this game's demands. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1699 suggests that the CPU can handle games with limited thread utilization, while the 8-thread score of 4779 indicates headroom for more demanding titles.

The processor's percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs means it outperforms 73% of processors in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 19039 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047), indicating that these two processors are effectively interchangeable in performance. The fact that the i5-12400F is a desktop processor with a 65 W TDP, while the Ryzen 5 7535HS is a mobile processor, highlights the efficiency of the Alder Lake architecture.