Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i5-14400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

This benchmark pairing combines a 10-core, 16-thread Raptor Lake refresh processor with Ada Lovelace's RTX 4080 SUPER, a combination that produces extraordinary frame rates in Dave The Diver. The data reveals a system that is dramatically overqualified for this title's demands, with the GPU spending most of its time waiting on the CPU at lower resolutions, while the game's relatively light visual load keeps even 4K performance well above refresh-rate thresholds. The measured results span from 137.6 FPS at 4K Ultra to 390.7 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that this combo is limited less by raw hardware capability and more by the game engine's own frame pacing and rendering overhead.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is remarkably shallow, which tells a clear story about where the bottleneck sits. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 268.7 at 1080p to 201.6 at 1440p, then to 137.6 at 4K — a total decline of 48.8% from 1080p to 4K. This is far less than the 4x pixel-count increase would suggest, meaning the game is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions. The RTX 4080 SUPER simply has more pixel-pushing capability than Dave The Diver's visual complexity can utilize.

Looking at Low settings, the scaling becomes even more telling: 390.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 304.5 at 1440p and 208.1 at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop of 22% is nearly identical to the 1440p-to-4K drop of 31.6%, suggesting that even at Low settings the GPU is only partially engaged. The game's art style and simple geometry mean that resolution scaling produces diminishing returns in visual fidelity while the frame rate remains exceptionally high across all settings.

The fact that Ultra at 4K still delivers 137.6 FPS — well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of typical high-end monitors — indicates that this combo never truly stresses the GPU in this title. The limiting component shifts from CPU at 1080p to a more balanced state at 4K, but even at the highest resolution and quality preset, the RTX 4080 SUPER is operating far below its potential ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 110th out of 1,626 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 6.8% of all configurations benchmarked for this game. That ranking is somewhat modest given the hardware involved, which suggests that many other combos with less powerful GPUs achieve similar or better results because the game's requirements are so modest.

The RTX 4080 SUPER sits at the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,610. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, scores 53,489 (0.2% behind), while the Radeon Pro W6600M trails by 0.4% and the RX 7700S by 2.1%. The RTX 5070 Ti is 2.9% behind in average score, which contextualizes how close the 4080 SUPER's performance is to the previous flagship tier.

On the CPU side, the Core i5-14400F also sits at the 88th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 32,508. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores 32,513 (a 0% delta), while the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 is 0.2% behind and the Ryzen 7 250 leads by 0.2%. This near-tie cluster indicates that the 14400F's performance is well-established in its class. The combo's 110th rank, however, reflects that many systems with lesser individual components still achieve similar frame rates in this undemanding title.

Settings Recommendations

The data strongly suggests that Ultra settings at 1440p or High settings at 4K provide the optimal experience for this combo. At 1440p Ultra, the system produces 201.6 FPS, which is more than adequate for high-refresh-rate displays while delivering the maximum visual quality the game offers. Moving to 4K Ultra drops to 137.6 FPS, which remains smooth but may not fully saturate a 144 Hz display.

For players prioritizing frame rate above all else, 1080p Low delivers 390.7 FPS — a figure that exceeds the refresh rate of virtually any consumer monitor. However, this sacrifices the game's charming visual presentation for no practical benefit. The Medium preset at 4K produces 173.7 FPS, which represents a balanced middle ground between the High preset's 153.6 FPS and the Ultra preset's 137.6 FPS.

The most compelling recommendation is 4K High at 153.6 FPS, which offers the resolution clarity that benefits the game's detailed environments while maintaining frame rates that exceed most displays' refresh capabilities. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 16 FPS (from 153.6 to 137.6), so players who prefer maximum quality can comfortably select Ultra without meaningfully compromising smoothness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings yield 390.7 FPS, Medium delivers 339.7 FPS, High drops to 302.1 FPS, and Ultra maintains 268.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 122 FPS, indicating that even the most demanding preset at this resolution leaves substantial headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain remarkably high. Low settings produce 304.5 FPS, Medium delivers 257.1 FPS, High achieves 225.7 FPS, and Ultra stays at 201.6 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 102.9 FPS, showing that the GPU begins to engage more meaningfully at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results show a more pronounced impact from settings. Low delivers 208.1 FPS, Medium produces 173.7 FPS, High achieves 153.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 137.6 FPS. The 70.5 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K demonstrates that resolution has become the primary factor, with settings adjustments providing diminishing returns at this pixel count.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. With a boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10,240 shading units, the GPU's theoretical peak performance is 52.22 TFLOPS FP32. In Dave The Diver, these specifications are overwhelmingly sufficient — the game's simple geometry and textures do not come close to stressing the memory subsystem or compute units.

The GPU's transistor count of 45,900 million on a 379 mm² die (5 nm TSMC process) places it among the most complex consumer graphics processors, yet this game appears to engage only a fraction of its capabilities. The 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores remain largely idle, as Dave The Diver does not implement ray tracing or DLSS features in these measurements.

The 88th percentile GPU ranking and the 2.9% gap to the RTX 5070 Ti show that this card is near the top of the performance hierarchy. However, the measured FPS data indicates that a significantly less powerful GPU would produce nearly identical results in this title. The 4K Ultra score of 137.6 FPS is the only measurement that approaches a potential GPU limitation, yet even this is far above playable thresholds.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER overkill for Dave The Diver?

A: Yes. The lowest measured frame rate across all resolutions and presets is 137.6 FPS (4K Ultra), which exceeds the refresh rate of most displays. The GPU never becomes the primary bottleneck in this title.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1440p Ultra at 201.6 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. However, 4K High at 153.6 FPS provides superior image clarity while remaining well above 144 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 110th out of 1,626 tested combos, placing it in the top 6.8% of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at 1080p?

A: Yes. The frame rate difference between 1080p Low (390.7 FPS) and 4K Low (208.1 FPS) is substantial, but the 1080p-to-1440p drop is smaller than the 1440p-to-4K drop, indicating CPU limitations at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 53,610 on average, with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 0.2% behind, the Radeon Pro W6600M 0.4% behind, and the RTX 5070 Ti 2.9% behind.

Q: Should players use Ultra or High settings at 4K?

A: The difference is only 16 FPS (137.6 vs 153.6), so either preset is viable. Ultra maximizes visual quality while High provides a small frame rate buffer for displays with higher refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a versatile mid-range processor. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility indicate a mainstream positioning, yet its benchmark scores place it at the 88th percentile among all CPUs.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is more significant than the GPU's. The game's relatively simple rendering pipeline means that frame rate is often limited by the CPU's ability to submit draw calls and process game logic. The 14400F's 10 cores (likely 6 performance and 4 efficiency) provide ample threading for this title, which is not heavily multithreaded but benefits from the high single-thread boost clock.

The processor's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21,914 and single-core score of 3,093 demonstrate strong all-around performance. The Geekbench multicore score of 11,209 and single-core score of 2,333 reinforce this picture. The 0% delta to the Intel Core i7-12800H (32,513 vs 32,508 average score) shows that this desktop chip matches a previous-generation mobile i7 in overall throughput, though the desktop platform offers sustained performance without thermal constraints.

The 14400F's 88th percentile CPU ranking and the tight clustering of its nearest rivals (all within 0.2% of its average score) indicate that it performs exactly as expected for its class. In this game, the CPU becomes the limiting factor at 1080p, where the 4080 SUPER has essentially no workload — the 390.7 FPS at Low settings is likely constrained by the engine's frame submission rate rather than any hardware deficiency.