Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces a combination that ranks 28th out of 2,867 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations. This pairing leverages a 10-core, 16-thread Alder Lake processor with a 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.90 GHz boost clock alongside a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. The benchmark data reveals that this combination delivers frame rates ranging from 164 FPS at 4K Ultra to 414 FPS at 1080p Low, suggesting that the system has substantial headroom even at the most demanding settings tested.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings 10 cores and 16 threads to Dave The Diver, a configuration that appears well-suited to the game's demands based on the measured frame rates. The processor's Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node, provides a boost clock of 4.90 GHz and a base clock of 3.70 GHz, with a 20 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU's performance profile, as evidenced by synthetic benchmarks including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23,391 and a single-core score of 3,302, indicates strong per-thread performance that matters for game logic and physics calculations.

The 3DMark results for this CPU show a progression from 1,016 in single-thread to 7,956 in 16-thread tests, with 8-thread performance reaching 6,128. This scaling pattern suggests that Dave The Diver benefits from additional threads but does not require maximum core utilization to achieve playable frame rates. The PassMark multithread score of 27,575 and single-thread score of 3,925 further corroborate the CPU's balanced capabilities. The processor's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it in the upper tier, though not at the absolute top, yet the measured FPS in Dave The Diver indicates that this CPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i9-10900K with an average score of 27,872 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE with 27,712 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U with 27,887 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with 27,896 (0.3% lower). These tight deltas suggest that the i5-12600KF performs essentially on par with these competing processors in general compute workloads. In the context of Dave The Diver, the game's relatively modest CPU demands mean that the processor's 10-core configuration provides ample headroom, allowing the GPU to operate without significant CPU-induced bottlenecks.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D achieves a rank of 28 out of 2,867 tested combinations in Dave The Diver, placing it within the top 1% of all configurations tested. This ranking reflects the synergistic performance of the two components in this specific game title, where the high-end GPU can fully express its capabilities without being constrained by the processor. The rank position suggests that only 27 other combinations deliver higher average frame rates across the tested settings and resolutions.

The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, which is expected given the RTX 5090 D's position in the GPU hierarchy. The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77,712, places it well above most competing graphics cards. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking, while lower than the GPU's percentile, does not appear to hinder overall performance in this game, as evidenced by the combo's strong rank. This suggests that Dave The Diver is more GPU-bound than CPU-bound, allowing the i5-12600KF to adequately feed the RTX 5090 D without creating a significant performance ceiling.

The gap between the combo's rank and what might be expected from the individual component percentiles is telling. If the CPU were a bottleneck, the combo rank would likely be lower than 28th, as the processor would limit the GPU's output. Instead, the high rank indicates that the i5-12600KF's performance is sufficient to keep the RTX 5090 D well-fed across the tested scenarios. This observation aligns with the game's genre as an Adventure title, which typically does not demand extreme multi-core processing power.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the frame rate progression across resolutions reveals how the system's workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At 1080p High, the combination produces 368 FPS, which increases to 277 FPS at 1440p High, and further decreases to 186 FPS at 4K High. This represents a 24.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 49.5% drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The pattern is consistent across other settings levels, with Low settings showing 414 FPS at 1080p, 371 FPS at 1440p, and 248 FPS at 4K — a 10.4% drop to 1440p and a 40.1% drop to 4K.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system is approaching a performance ceiling that may be influenced by the CPU, as the frame rates are exceptionally high (exceeding 400 FPS at Low settings). At this resolution, the GPU has relatively less work to do per frame, and the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and process game logic becomes more relevant. The RTX 5090 D's massive compute capabilities — including 21,760 shading units and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance — are partially idle at 1080p if the CPU cannot keep pace. However, the fact that 1080p Low still achieves 414 FPS indicates that the i5-12600KF is capable of sustaining very high frame rates, even if it cannot push beyond that threshold.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced GPU influence, as the resolution increase adds pixel-processing workload. The 4K results, with frame rates between 164 and 248 FPS depending on settings, demonstrate that the GPU is now the primary determining factor, as the increased pixel count and shading demands engage the RTX 5090 D's full capabilities. The relatively modest frame rate drop from 1440p to 4K (approximately 33% at High settings) compared to the 4x pixel count increase suggests that the GPU has substantial bandwidth and processing headroom, with its 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate helping to mitigate the resolution penalty.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span from 325 FPS at Ultra settings to 414 FPS at Low settings. The Medium preset delivers 388 FPS with a minimum of 330 FPS and maximum of 447 FPS, while High settings produce 368 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 89 FPS, representing a 21.5% reduction in performance when moving to the highest quality preset. The Medium setting's min FPS of 330 indicates that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate remains well above typical display refresh rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 245 at Ultra to 371 at Low. High settings yield 277 FPS, while Medium produces 310 FPS with a minimum of 264 FPS and maximum of 357 FPS. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is relatively consistent across settings: 10.4% for Low, 12.7% for High, 20.1% for Medium, and 24.6% for Ultra. This increasing percentage drop at higher settings suggests that the additional pixel workload at 1440p is more impactful when the GPU is already handling more complex shading and effects.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 164 at Ultra to 248 at Low. High settings deliver 186 FPS, while Medium produces 208 FPS with a minimum of 177 FPS and maximum of 239 FPS. The 4K results show a more pronounced separation between settings, with Low being 51.2% faster than Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 177 FPS is still well above the 144 FPS threshold commonly associated with high-refresh-rate gaming, indicating that even the most demanding settings maintain playable performance. The data shows that the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for all tested configurations, as no VRAM-related performance degradation is evident in the frame rate patterns.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the exceptional frame rates observed. The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The 92,200 million transistors on the GB202 chip, built on TSMC's 5 nm process, enable 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. The boost clock of 2,407 MHz and base clock of 2,017 MHz drive the GPU's compute throughput, which includes 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its high-end positioning, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14,326 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376,915. The PassMark G3D score of 44,065 and GPU compute score of 28,396 further demonstrate the card's capabilities. The RTX 5090 D's 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the top of the performance hierarchy, and its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with an average score of 76,904 (1.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT with 78,940 (1.6% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe variants with scores of 79,396 and 79,605 (2.1% and 2.4% higher, respectively).

In Dave The Diver, the GPU's role is evident in the scaling of frame rates with settings and resolution. The RTX 5090 D's 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores, while not explicitly utilized in this game's benchmark data, contribute to the card's overall compute capability. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and frame buffer operations do not become bottlenecks, even at 4K resolution with Ultra settings. The GPU's 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU indicate that this is a power-hungry component, though the benchmark results justify this requirement through sustained high frame rates across all tested configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested CPU-GPU combinations in Dave The Diver?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 28th out of 2,867 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations.

Q: What are the frame rates at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combination delivers an average of 325 FPS, which is the lowest frame rate at this resolution but still exceptionally high.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score is 77,712. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, scores 76,904 (1.1% lower), while the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79,605 (2.4% higher).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 414 FPS, indicating the i5-12600KF can sustain very high frame rates. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU-bound scaling, suggesting the CPU provides adequate support across all tested resolutions.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the benchmark data?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 177 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This indicates that even the most demanding tested scenario maintains frame rates well above typical display refresh rates.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 D have, and does it impact performance?

A: The RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The frame rate data shows no signs of VRAM limitations at any tested resolution or settings level, indicating the memory capacity is more than sufficient for Dave The Diver.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 1440p (2560x1440) offers the most balanced experience, delivering 310 FPS average with a minimum of 264 FPS and maximum of 357 FPS. This configuration provides a 12.7% performance increase over High settings at the same resolution while maintaining a minimum frame rate that exceeds 240 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 208 FPS average with a minimum of 177 FPS, which remains above the 144 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 4K, while producing 164 FPS average, still provides playable performance but with a 21.2% reduction compared to Medium, making it a less optimal choice for competitive or fast-paced gameplay. For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset at 1440p delivers 277 FPS average, representing a reasonable compromise between fidelity and performance. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (414 FPS at 1080p, 371 FPS at 1440p, 248 FPS at 4K), sacrifices visual quality that may be unnecessary given the system's capability to exceed 200 FPS at higher settings across all resolutions.