Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is a game that rarely stresses high-end hardware at conventional resolutions, but the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination still reveals interesting scaling behavior. The data shows that frame rates remain exceptionally high across all tested settings, yet the pattern of performance drops from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a dramatic reduction in frame rates, but the absolute numbers remain so high that the game is essentially always playable. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 335.4 at 1920x1080 to 251.6 at 2560x1440, then drops further to 167.8 at 3840x2160. That represents a 25% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The cumulative effect is a 50% performance loss when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings.

The Low preset shows a similar trajectory but with higher absolute numbers. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo produces 393.9 FPS, which drops to 341.9 at 1440p and 227.2 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K here is a 34% decrease, nearly identical to the High preset’s drop. This consistency suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count rises, even though the RTX 4090 has substantial headroom in this title.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution scaling effect. The measured 297 FPS at 1080p Ultra falls to 227.3 at 1440p (a 23% drop) and then to 149.4 at 4K (a 34% drop from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the entire dataset, yet it still clears 144 FPS. The pattern across all presets indicates that Dave The Diver’s engine scales predictably with resolution, and the RTX 4090’s dominance means the CPU rarely holds things back at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This Raptor Lake Refresh part sits in the 88th percentile of all CPUs according to benchmark data, with an average benchmark score of 32508. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 indicate strong all-around performance for a mid-range desktop chip.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role becomes apparent only when frame rates approach or exceed 300 FPS. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 393.9 FPS, which is high enough that the i5-14400F’s single-thread performance likely becomes a factor. The Passmark single-thread score of 3723 and the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 311 suggest the chip has solid per-core capability, but even the fastest consumer CPUs would struggle to feed a GPU at nearly 400 FPS in a busy adventure game scene.

The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help with game logic and asset streaming, but the data shows the CPU is rarely the primary constraint. At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly working harder, the i5-14400F’s 10 cores provide ample margin. The chip’s 65 W TDP and active production status make it a practical choice, though its performance here is more about keeping up with the RTX 4090 than leading the way.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the star of this combination, and the benchmark results reflect its enormous compute resources. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has no trouble feeding data for Dave The Diver’s pixel-heavy scenes. Its base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 16384 shading units, produce 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 66473 places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals are notably different in character. The data shows the RTX 4090 sits within 1.3% of the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 and within 0.9% of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56, both of which are workstation-oriented cards. This comparison highlights that the RTX 4090’s raw compute is competitive with professional hardware, even if its gaming focus is different.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU’s 24 GB VRAM is overkill for a game that likely uses a fraction of that capacity, but the bandwidth and compute power translate directly into the high frame rates observed. The 4K Ultra result of 149.4 FPS is the only sub-150 FPS figure in the dataset, and it still represents excellent performance for a 4K gaming scenario. The GPU’s 45% performance drop from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra shows how resolution scaling taxes the card, yet the absolute numbers remain far beyond what most displays can even use.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database places this specific combination at rank 42 out of 1626 tested combos for Dave The Diver. That top 2.6% positioning is consistent with the measured frame rates, which are exceptionally high across all resolutions and settings. The rank reflects the synergy between the i5-14400F’s capable multi-core performance and the RTX 4090’s raw graphical power.

What makes this rank notable is that the CPU is not a flagship part. The i5-14400F’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i7-12800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, AMD Ryzen 7 250, and Intel Core i7-13705H, all within 0.2% of its average score. This means the combo’s high rank comes primarily from the GPU, with the CPU providing sufficient support without becoming a limiting factor at most settings. The data suggests that pairing a stronger CPU would yield diminishing returns in this game, as the RTX 4090 already dominates the performance profile.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest numbers. Low settings produce 393.9 FPS, Medium yields 367.7 FPS, High reaches 335.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 297 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 25% penalty for maxing out visual quality, which is modest for a game at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the figures remain extremely high. Low settings show 341.9 FPS, Medium achieves 284.2 FPS, High hits 251.6 FPS, and Ultra manages 227.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 34% at this resolution, indicating that both resolution and settings are beginning to tax the GPU more heavily.

At 3840x2160, the performance drop becomes pronounced. Low settings still produce 227.2 FPS, Medium drops to 192.5 FPS, High falls to 167.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 149.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 34% at 4K, matching the 1440p spread. The data shows that even the most demanding preset combination in this dataset remains comfortably above 144 FPS, making this combo suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo overkill for Dave The Diver?

A: The data shows frame rates exceeding 149 FPS even at 4K Ultra settings, which far exceeds the 60 FPS target most displays use. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM and 82.58 TFLOPS compute are far beyond what this game requires.

Q: How does the i5-14400F perform relative to its rivals?

A: The CPU’s average benchmark score of 32508 places it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12800H, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, AMD Ryzen 7 250, and Intel Core i7-13705H, showing it is a mid-pack performer rather than a standout.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between settings?

A: At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 25%, but at both 1440p and 4K, that gap widens to 34%. The largest absolute drop is from 4K Low to 4K Ultra, which sees a 77.8 FPS reduction from 227.2 to 149.4.

Q: Should I prioritize resolution or settings with this combo?

A: The data shows that 4K Ultra still delivers 149.4 FPS, so you can max out both. If you must choose, dropping from Ultra to High at 4K gains 18.4 FPS, while dropping from 4K to 1440p at Ultra gains 77.9 FPS.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 393.9 FPS, the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the likely constraint, as the GPU has massive headroom. The i5-14400F’s Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093 suggests it can handle high frame rates, but nearly 400 FPS pushes any processor.

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

A: It ranks 42nd out of 1626 combos, placing it in the top 2.6% of all tested systems for Dave The Diver. This reflects the GPU’s dominance, as the CPU is a modest performer relative to its peers.