Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a demanding title by modern standards, but the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination reveal a clear scaling pattern that shifts the bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 206 FPS average, which drops to 155 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 104 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 49.5% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33.0% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is steep but consistent, indicating that the RTX 5050 is the primary limiting factor even at the lowest quality preset. At High settings, the same resolution progression yields 154 FPS, 116 FPS, and 77 FPS respectively, showing a similar percentage drop but with lower absolute headroom. The gap between Low and High at 1080p is 52 FPS, which narrows to 39 FPS at 1440p and 27 FPS at 4K, confirming that the GPU's workload increases disproportionately with resolution, making the graphics card the dominant constraint across all tested configurations.

The 4K results are particularly telling for this pairing. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls to 68 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold but with no measured minimum to confirm stability. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 87 FPS average with a minimum of 74 FPS, indicating a comfortable margin for smooth gameplay. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 19 FPS, a 21.8% performance penalty, while the jump from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS, a 16.3% penalty. This non-linear scaling suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately tax the RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus. At 1080p, the same preset progression shows a much smaller relative impact: Low to Medium costs 34 FPS, but Medium to Ultra costs 36 FPS, almost identical in absolute terms. The data indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU and memory subsystem can feed the GPU adequately, but at 4K, the memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor, particularly for the higher quality settings that increase texture and buffer demands.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling analysis for this combo reveals a GPU-bound scenario across all settings, but with varying degrees of severity. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by 33.1% at Low settings (206 to 155), 24.7% at High settings (154 to 116), and 25.0% at Ultra settings (136 to 102). The Medium preset shows a 25.0% reduction (172 to 129). These percentages are relatively uniform, suggesting that the RTX 5050's compute throughput scales predictably with pixel count at these mid-range resolutions. However, the transition from 1440p to 4K is more punishing: Low settings drop 32.9% (155 to 104), High drops 33.6% (116 to 77), Medium drops 32.6% (129 to 87), and Ultra drops 33.3% (102 to 68). The consistency of these drops—all hovering around 33%—indicates that the GPU is operating at its fill-rate limit, where the pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s are the determining factors.

What the scaling data reveals about the limiting component is nuanced. At 1080p, the i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to keep the RTX 5050 fed, as evidenced by the 206 FPS Low result, which approaches the ceiling for many displays. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and multi-thread score of 7956 indicate strong per-core performance that avoids becoming a bottleneck at lower pixel counts. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload expands while the CPU's frame preparation time stays roughly constant, shifting the balance decisively toward the graphics card. The 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS is particularly diagnostic: if the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, but the data shows a clear 50% reduction from 1080p Ultra (136 FPS) to 4K Ultra, proving the GPU is the sole limiting factor at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 achieves a combo rank of 1725 out of 2867 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places the system in the 39.8th percentile of all combinations, meaning roughly 60% of tested setups deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is modest, reflecting the RTX 5050's position as a lower-tier GPU in the current generation, despite the CPU being a solid mid-range performer. The CPU alone sits at the 79th percentile against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 27799, while the GPU sits at the 66th percentile against all graphics cards, with an average score of 21035. The discrepancy between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's lower percentile explains why the combo ranks below the median: the graphics card is the weaker link, and in a game like Dave The Diver where frame rates are GPU-limited at higher settings, this drags the overall performance down.

Comparing the combo to its constituent parts' nearest rivals provides context. The i5-12600KF's average score of 27799 is essentially tied with the Intel Core i9-10900K (27872, deltaPct -0.3%) and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (27896, deltaPct -0.3%), meaning the CPU is performing at parity with much more expensive chips from previous generations. The RTX 5050's average score of 21035 is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713) and within 1.6% of the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379), positioning it as a mainstream-class GPU. In Dave The Diver specifically, the combo's rank of 1725 suggests that many systems with faster GPUs—even those paired with slower CPUs—will outperform this configuration because the game's engine appears to favor graphics throughput over CPU muscle. The 4K Ultra result of 68 FPS, while playable, is far from the top of the database, where competing combos likely exceed 100 FPS at the same settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process and 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s, which is a critical specification for understanding the 4K performance degradation. The memory clock runs at 2500 MHz with 20 Gbps effective transfer, and the GPU operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These clocks, combined with 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, produce a FP32 throughput of 13.17 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. In Dave The Diver, which is primarily a 2D side-scrolling adventure with some 3D underwater exploration, these specifications are more than adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results show the memory bandwidth ceiling.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at all tested settings, as evidenced by the absence of any min FPS collapses that would indicate memory swapping. However, the 128-bit bus width is the likely culprit for the 33% FPS drop from 1440p to 4K, as higher resolutions require more memory transactions per frame. The Ultra preset at 4K, which likely increases texture resolution and shadow quality, pushes the memory subsystem harder, resulting in the 68 FPS average. The GPU's percentile rank of 66 against all GPUs indicates it is a mid-pack performer, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (deltaPct 1.6%), which is a previous-generation card with similar memory specs. The RTX 5050's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility with modern rendering techniques, but the measured FPS in this game suggests the hardware is not being pushed to its architectural limits—rather, it is the raw fill rate and memory bandwidth that determine performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 172 FPS average with a minimum of 146 FPS, which provides a smooth experience on any high-refresh-rate monitor. The jump to High at 154 FPS is marginal (18 FPS loss) and still maintains excellent smoothness, while Ultra at 136 FPS remains above 120 FPS for most displays. Given that the game is an adventure title without competitive multiplayer demands, the High preset at 1080p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with the 154 FPS average leaving ample headroom for frame time spikes. The Low preset at 206 FPS is unnecessary unless targeting extreme refresh rates, and the visual downgrade likely detracts from the game's stylized art direction.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset with 129 FPS average and 110 FPS minimum is the recommended choice, as it maintains a 110 FPS floor that prevents noticeable stutter. High at 116 FPS is also viable, but the 13 FPS difference does not justify the potential for dips below 100 FPS in busy scenes. Ultra at 102 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but falls short of the 120 FPS threshold for smooth motion on high-refresh panels. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 87 FPS average with a 74 FPS minimum is the only setting that provides both visual quality and stability—the min FPS of 74 ensures no drops below 60 FPS, which is critical for a playable experience. High at 77 FPS has no measured minimum, making it riskier, and Ultra at 68 FPS may experience dips that compromise the experience. For 4K gaming, Medium is the clear recommendation, as it delivers 87 FPS average while maintaining a 74 FPS floor, a safer margin than the other presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo in Dave The Diver spans three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 206 FPS average, Medium achieves 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 FPS and maximum of 198 FPS, High achieves 154 FPS, and Ultra achieves 136 FPS. The 34 FPS difference between Low and Medium is the largest single-step jump, indicating that Medium enables significant visual effects that impact performance. The 18 FPS difference between Medium and High is moderate, while the 18 FPS difference between High and Ultra is identical, suggesting a linear scaling of GPU workload at this resolution. The 1080p results show that even the most demanding preset, Ultra, remains well above 120 FPS, making this resolution the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 155 FPS, Medium delivers 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS and maximum of 149 FPS, High delivers 116 FPS, and Ultra delivers 102 FPS. The step-down pattern is consistent: Low to Medium costs 26 FPS, Medium to High costs 13 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 14 FPS. The min FPS of 110 at Medium indicates a stable frame pacing, while the max of 149 shows occasional headroom. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 104 FPS, Medium at 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and maximum of 100 FPS, High at 77 FPS, and Ultra at 68 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS, Medium to High costs 10 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 9 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase. The 4K Medium result is the only preset with a measured minimum FPS (74) that confirms playability, making it the safest choice for 4K displays.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF provides 10 cores and 16 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 1.25 MB help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for the single-threaded workloads that often dominate game logic. In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is to manage game state, physics, and AI, while the GPU handles rendering. The benchmark data shows the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302 indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated. The multi-thread capabilities, evidenced by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391 and Passmark multithread score of 27575, ensure that background tasks do not interfere with game performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i9-10900K with a deltaPct of -0.3%, meaning the i5-12600KF performs essentially identically in synthetic benchmarks despite having fewer cores. This is due to the architectural efficiency of Alder Lake's hybrid design, which combines performance and efficiency cores. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, also at a deltaPct of -0.3%, shows that this i5 matches a chip with 3D V-Cache in average benchmark scores. In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's 10 cores are more than sufficient, as the game does not appear to be heavily threaded—the 1080p Low result of 206 FPS suggests the CPU can generate frames faster than the GPU can render them. The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process node are not directly relevant to game performance but indicate the thermal headroom available for sustained boost clocks, which the 4.90 GHz boost clock can maintain during extended gaming sessions. The data confirms that the i5-12600KF is not a bottleneck in this combination, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load across resolutions.