Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination. The measured data shows a system that is clearly capable of delivering a smooth experience across all tested resolutions, but the relationship between settings and frame rates reveals where the bottlenecks lie. The RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of VRAM, proves to be the primary driver of performance variance, while the 10-core processor appears to have ample headroom in this adventure title.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data indicates that the Ultra preset is the most demanding configuration, yielding an average of 119.2 FPS at 1920x1080. While this is perfectly playable, it is not the optimal choice for maximizing fluidity. The High preset, by contrast, delivers a substantial performance increase with only a modest visual trade-off, producing an average of 133.8 FPS at the same resolution. This represents a 12% improvement over Ultra, making High the sweet spot for most users.

At 2560x1440, the gap between presets becomes more pronounced. The High preset maintains an average of 101.2 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset drops to 87 FPS at this resolution, still playable but beginning to show the strain on the GPU. For the best experience at 1440p, the Medium preset at 110.1 FPS offers an excellent balance, providing a 9% uplift over High while likely maintaining most of the visual fidelity that matters in a 2D-driven adventure game.

The 4K data tells a different story. At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 65.7 FPS, which is adequate but not ideal for fast-paced segments. The Low preset jumps to 89.1 FPS, a 36% improvement, suggesting that the game's visual effects at this resolution are heavily taxing the RTX 2060. Given that this is an adventure title where environmental detail matters, the Medium preset at 77.7 FPS appears to be the most rational choice for 4K, offering a 18% uplift over High while still maintaining a playable frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the defining component in this system's gaming performance. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The benchmark data shows that this memory configuration is sufficient for Dave The Diver, as even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K averages 60.6 FPS, indicating that the game is not exceeding the VRAM capacity in a way that would cause stuttering or severe drops.

The card's clock speeds are equally telling. Operating at a base of 1365 MHz and boosting to 1680 MHz, the RTX 2060 demonstrates consistent scaling across settings. The transition from Low to Ultra at 1080p results in a 32% frame rate reduction, from 176.3 FPS to 119.2 FPS. This consistent progression suggests that the GPU's 1920 shading units are being progressively utilized, with no sudden cliff indicating a memory or bandwidth bottleneck. The card's PassMark G3D score of 14111 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 16074 is within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S, indicating comparable raw performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate degradation from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals the GPU-bound nature of the workload. At High settings, the system produces 133.8 FPS at 1920x1080, 101.2 FPS at 2560x1440, and 65.7 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24% drop when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 35% drop when moving to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which is typical for a game that increasingly stresses the pixel fill rate and shading units as resolution increases.

The pattern holds across all settings. At Low, the system delivers 176.3 FPS at 1080p, 131.6 FPS at 1440p, and 89.1 FPS at 4K. At Ultra, the figures are 119.2, 87, and 60.6 FPS respectively. The consistency of these ratios—roughly 1.35x between 1080p and 1440p, and 1.45x between 1440p and 4K—indicates that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component. The CPU, which shows a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914, is not constraining performance, as the frame rates scale predictably with the GPU's workload.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Dave The Diver at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160, the system achieves an average of 65.7 FPS on High settings and 60.6 FPS on Ultra, both of which are above the standard 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 110.1 FPS, which is the highest frame rate among the presets that still offers a balanced visual experience. The Ultra preset at 87 FPS is also viable if visual fidelity is prioritized.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.7% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700, indicating near-identical performance levels.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F a bottleneck for this game?

A: The data does not suggest CPU bottlenecking. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with GPU-bound behavior, and the processor's 88th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it has sufficient headroom for this title.

Q: What is the difference in frame rate between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 176.3 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 119.2 FPS. This is a 32% reduction, which is a significant trade-off for the additional visual effects.

Q: Should I use the High preset at 4K?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 averages 65.7 FPS, which is playable. However, the Medium preset at 77.7 FPS offers a 18% performance improvement, which may be preferable for maintaining a more consistent frame rate in busy scenes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093. The processor's PassMark multithread score of 25783 and single-thread score of 3723 place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation, as the frame rates scale smoothly with resolution and settings changes. The processor's nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, has an average score of 32513, a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 is 0.2% slower. This indicates that the i5-14400F is positioned in a performance tier that is more than adequate for this adventure game, which likely relies more on the GPU for rendering complex scenes.

The processor's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide a solid foundation for gaming. However, the data does not show any scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as even the highest frame rates at 1080p Low (176.3 FPS) do not appear to be constrained by processor throughput. The system's overall rank of 1333 out of 1626 combinations in this game further suggests that while the hardware is competent, it is not at the top tier, which is consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. The Low preset averages 176.3 FPS, followed by Medium at 149.8 FPS, High at 133.8 FPS, and Ultra at 119.2 FPS. The progression is smooth, with each tier of visual fidelity costing roughly 10-15% of performance. This resolution is clearly where the RTX 2060 is most comfortable, providing frame rates that are well above the requirements for a 144Hz monitor at all but the most demanding settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain highly playable. The Low preset averages 131.6 FPS, Medium reaches 110.1 FPS, High maintains 101.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 87 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows at this resolution, with only a 14% difference, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are less impactful at higher pixel densities. All presets remain above the 60 FPS threshold, making 1440p a viable option for this hardware combination.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes significantly. The Low preset averages 89.1 FPS, which is still excellent for 4K. The Medium preset averages 77.7 FPS, High drops to 65.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 60.6 FPS. The data shows that even at the highest resolution, the system can maintain playable frame rates across all settings, though the margin for error is thinner. The 32% drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is more pronounced than the 32% drop at 1080p, indicating that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capabilities are being fully exercised at this resolution. Overall, the measured FPS data presents a coherent picture: this system is capable of handling Dave The Diver at any resolution, with the most balanced experience found at 1440p on High or Medium settings.