Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, a pixel-art adventure title, presents an interesting hardware profile that is less about raw graphical fidelity and more about consistent frame pacing. The benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the Intel Arc B390 shows a combination that is heavily constrained by its graphics processor, particularly as resolution scales. The data indicates a playable experience at lower resolutions, but the system's limitations become increasingly apparent at higher settings and pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 81 FPS. This is a smooth, playable level for an adventure game. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same High preset, the average FPS drops to 61, a 24.7% reduction in performance from the 1080p baseline. The trend continues to 3840x2160, where the average FPS falls further to 41, which is a 49.4% reduction from the 1080p result and a 32.8% reduction from the 1440p result.

This scaling pattern points directly to the graphics card as the limiting component. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the subsequent drop to 4K is even more severe on a percentage basis. The data suggests that the i5-14600K has ample headroom to feed frames, but the Arc B390's rendering capabilities are saturated as the pixel count increases. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution further confirms this. At 3840x2160, the gap between Low (55 FPS) and Ultra (36 FPS) is a substantial 19 FPS, showing that the GPU is the bottleneck when shader complexity and effects are increased. The frame rate scaling is not linear with the pixel count increase, indicating that the GPU is running out of compute or memory bandwidth at higher resolutions, making it the primary constraint on performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a high-end desktop processor with 14 cores and 20 threads, a base clock of 3.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491 and a single-core score of 2064. It ranks in the 90th percentile against all CPUs, placing it well above the average processor. The nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and the AMD EPYC 4345P, with the i5-14600K sitting just 0.2% below and 0.3% above them, respectively.

In the context of Dave The Diver, this processor is almost certainly not the limiting factor. The game is not a multi-threaded stress test; it is a 2D adventure title. The CPU's high single-core performance, as evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2491, is more than sufficient for the game's logic and physics. The data supports this; the consistent frame rate drops that correlate with resolution changes are a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. If the CPU were the limitation, we would expect to see more similar frame rates across resolutions, as the CPU work would not change with pixel count. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with resolution, confirming that the i5-14600K is providing frames faster than the Arc B390 can render them. The CPU's role here is to ensure that the GPU is never waiting for data, and its performance headroom suggests it is successfully doing so.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this specific hardware combination balances visual fidelity with smooth gameplay. At 1920x1080, the High preset offers an average of 81 FPS, which is an excellent target for a game like this. While the Low preset achieves a higher 108 FPS, the visual upgrade to High is often significant in adventure games, and the 27 FPS cost is acceptable when the base frame rate is already high. The Medium preset at 91 FPS and the Ultra preset at 72 FPS are also viable, but High appears to be the sweet spot for visual quality and performance.

At 2560x1440, the data suggests that the High preset is the most demanding setting that still provides a comfortable experience, with an average of 61 FPS. The Medium preset offers a more stable 68 FPS, which might be preferable for players who value frame consistency over minor visual details. The Ultra preset dips to 54 FPS, which is playable but begins to approach the lower bounds of smoothness for some players. The Low preset at 82 FPS is a fallback for those who prioritize frame rate above all else. At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. The High preset drops to 41 FPS. For a 4K experience, the Low preset at 55 FPS is the only setting that provides a frame rate above 50, making it the recommended choice for this resolution. The Medium preset provides 46 FPS with some frame variance (min 39, max 53), which may be acceptable but is less consistent. The data shows that the High and Ultra presets at 4K are best avoided for a consistently smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 3295th out of 3710 tested combos for Dave The Diver. This places the combo in the 11th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is a lower-performing configuration for this title. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU, which itself ranks in the 9th percentile against all GPUs based on its average benchmark score.

The GPU's nearest rivals are all older, low-end parts. The Arc B390's benchmark score is 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710. This places the Arc B390 in a performance tier that is typically associated with entry-level or legacy hardware. The CPU, in contrast, is a high-tier part, ranking in the 90th percentile. The disconnect between the CPU's high rank and the GPU's low rank is stark. This creates a system that is imbalanced for gaming, where the powerful processor's capabilities are largely wasted because the graphics card cannot keep up, even in a relatively undemanding game like Dave The Diver.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The GPU's memory is "System Shared," meaning it uses a portion of the system's main RAM, and its bandwidth is "System Dependent." This is a critical detail, as it means the GPU's performance is tied to the speed and configuration of the system's memory.

The GPU has 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with a FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score is 1482, which is its only listed benchmark. This score places it in the 9th percentile, solidifying its position as a low-performance part. The data for Dave The Diver reflects this. At 1080p Ultra, it manages 72 FPS, but this drops to 36 FPS at 4K Ultra. The performance is consistent with a GPU that has limited fill rate and shader processing power for higher resolutions. The fact that its memory bandwidth is "System Dependent" is a major factor; it is likely a significant contributor to the performance drops at higher resolutions, where the demand for texture data and framebuffer access increases substantially.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average FPS data is as follows. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are 108 FPS on Low, 91 FPS on Medium, 81 FPS on High, and 72 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a recorded minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average FPS is 82 on Low, 68 on Medium, 61 on High, and 54 on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 58 FPS and a maximum of 78 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 55 on Low, 46 on Medium, 41 on High, and 36 on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 39 FPS and a maximum of 53 FPS.

These numbers illustrate a clear performance hierarchy. The gap between Low and Ultra settings grows with resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 36 FPS (108 vs 72). At 1440p, the difference is 28 FPS (82 vs 54). At 4K, the difference is 19 FPS (55 vs 36). While the absolute delta shrinks, the relative performance decrease is more pronounced at higher resolutions. For example, the drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is a 34.5% reduction in FPS, while at 1080p it is a 33.3% reduction. This indicates that the GPU's limitations become more pronounced as the pixel workload increases, making it the decisive factor in all measured scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Dave The Diver smoothly at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows this combo achieves an average of 81 FPS on High settings and 108 FPS on Low settings at 1920x1080, indicating a smooth experience at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting to use at 2560x1440?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 provides an average of 61 FPS, which is a good balance. The Medium preset offers a higher average of 68 FPS with recorded minimums of 58 FPS, making it a more stable choice if frame consistency is preferred.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with the Intel Arc B390?

A: The data indicates that 4K is only playable on the Low preset, where the average FPS is 55. Higher presets at 3840x2160 drop to 46 FPS on Medium and 41 FPS on High, which are less smooth.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: The data points to the GPU as the limiting factor. Frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, which is a characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU is a high-performance part, ranking in the 90th percentile, and is not the cause of the frame rate drops.

Q: How does the GPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, indicating it is in a similar low-performance tier.

Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this combination for this game?

A: This specific CPU and GPU combo ranks 3295th out of 3710 tested combinations for Dave The Diver, placing it in the lower 11th percentile of all tested systems.