Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is a lightweight adventure title that rarely stresses modern hardware, but the measured results with the Intel Core i5-14600K and Intel Arc B580 show how the pairing behaves across resolutions and presets. The data indicates a system with headroom to spare at 1080p, while 4K demands more from the graphics card, though the game remains playable even at the heaviest settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but expected for a game like this. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 141 FPS at 1920x1080 to 106 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 71 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 49.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 33% further drop from 1440p to 4K, relative to the 1080p baseline. The scaling indicates the Arc B580 is the limiting component at higher resolutions, since the CPU is not a bottleneck in this workload.

Low settings show a similar trend: 189 FPS at 1080p, 142 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 33.1%. The percentage reduction grows at higher resolutions, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios. The difference between Low and High settings at the same resolution is modest: at 1080p, Low is 189 FPS vs 141 FPS High—a 25.3% gain; at 4K, Low is 95 FPS vs 71 FPS High—a 25.4% gain. So the GPU is the primary lever for resolution scaling, while the CPU’s role is minimal.

Ultra settings provide the lowest frame rates across every resolution: 124 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 49.2%, consistent with the High preset. This indicates that Ultra adds a fixed overhead that scales with resolution, but the relative scaling pattern remains GPU-bound. The minimum FPS data is sparse—only Medium has min/max values—but the numbers available show a narrow band: at 4K Medium, the min is 68 FPS with a max of 92 FPS; at 1440p Medium, min 101, max 137; at 1080p Medium, min 134, max 182. That suggests frame times are stable, with no extreme dips.

The 4K results are playable across all settings, with High at 71 FPS average and Ultra at 63 FPS. The data suggests that 4K is viable with the Arc B580 and this CPU, but the margin shrinks as settings rise. The 1080p numbers are high enough that the GPU is rarely stressed, which means the system is over-provisioned for that resolution in this game. The scaling pattern—roughly 25% loss from 1080p to 1440p and another 25% from 1440p to 4K—points to a GPU that scales linearly with pixel count, which is expected for a game with simple geometry and effects.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Arc B580 handle 4K Ultra in Dave The Diver?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 63, with no minimum value reported. That is playable for a leisurely adventure, though it lacks the headroom of the 71 FPS at 4K High.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: 1080p Low hits 189 FPS average, while 4K Ultra runs at 63 FPS. That is exactly 3x the frame rate, showing the combined effect of resolution and preset.

Q: Is there a big difference between Medium and High settings?

A: The delta is about 6-12% depending on resolution. At 1080p, High is 141 FPS vs Medium 158 FPS, a 12% drop; at 4K, High is 71 FPS vs Medium 80 FPS, an 11% drop.

Q: Which resolution has the smallest gap between Low and Ultra?

A: At 1080p, Low is 189 FPS and Ultra is 124 FPS, a 52.4% difference. At 4K, Low is 95 FPS and Ultra is 63 FPS, a 50.8% difference. So the gap is consistent across resolutions.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for Medium settings?

A: The data lists min FPS only for Medium: 134 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. The max values are 182, 137, and 92 respectively, indicating a tight band.

Q: Does the 14600K bottleneck the Arc B580 at 1080p?

A: The data shows no evidence of a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the Arc B580 reaches 189 FPS, and the CPU has 14 cores and 20 threads with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which is far more than this game needs.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the High preset is the sweet spot across all three resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 141 FPS—more than enough for a smooth experience—and at 1440p it stays at 106 FPS. Even at 4K, High holds 71 FPS, which is playable for an adventure title. Ultra adds only a visual bump but costs a 5.9% reduction in FPS at every resolution (e.g., 141 vs 124 at 1080p). Since the game is not visually demanding, High is the recommended preset.

For players with 144Hz displays, only 4K requires a step down: 4K High at 71 FPS won't saturate a 144Hz panel, but 1440p High at 106 FPS and 1080p High at 141 FPS will. The Medium settings are also fine—the min FPS at 1440p is 101 and at 1080p 134, ensuring no drops below 100 FPS in the measured data. Ultra is not worth the 5.9% frame hit unless the user demands every visual option. The game runs at 4K Ultra at 63 FPS, which is acceptable for a single-player adventure but not for high-refresh monitors.

The data indicates that Low is unnecessary on this configuration, as even 4K Low hits 95 FPS. If you want to maximize frame rate at 4K, Low is the only preset that reaches near 100 FPS, but High is a better compromise. For esports-style play at 1080p, Low at 189 FPS gives the absolute highest frame rate, but the visual drop is significant. The recommended path is: 1080p High or 1440p High for most users, 4K High for the best 4K experience, and Low only if you are chasing maximum FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Arc B580 delivers a wide range depending on settings. Low averages 189 FPS, Medium averages 158 FPS (min 134, max 182), High averages 141 FPS, and Ultra averages 124 FPS. The gap from Low to Ultra is 65 FPS, or 52.4%. The min FPS at Medium is 134, which is above the refresh rate of most 144Hz monitors.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds: Low averages 142 FPS, Medium averages 119 FPS (min 101, max 137), High averages 106 FPS, and Ultra averages 94 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 48 FPS, or 51.1%. The min FPS at Medium drops to 101, still above 100 FPS, which is smooth for this genre.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is more stressed: Low averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 80 FPS (min 68, max 92), High averages 71 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The Low to Ultra gap is 32 FPS, or 50.8%. The min FPS at Medium is 68, which is still playable but no longer high-refresh territory.

The overall pattern: each resolution step loses roughly 25-35% of the frame rate, and each preset step from Low to Ultra costs about 15-20% of the frame rate at the same resolution. The data shows the Arc B580 has the most headroom at 1080p, where even Ultra stays above 120 FPS. The game's low system requirements mean the GPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p, but it becomes the primary constraint at 4K.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the key component in these results. It has a 12 GB GDDR6 memory pool with a 192-bit bus and 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a game like this. The memory clock is 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), and the GPU boost clock is 2670 MHz, same as the base clock. The B580 has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs across a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its FP32 performance is 13.67 TFLOPS.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at 4K, where the average FPS drops to 71 at High and 63 at Ultra. The 12 GB VRAM is more than enough—Dave The Diver is not a texture-heavy title. The B580's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in the mid-range, with its closest rivals being the RX 580 2048SP (delta -0.2%), RTX 2080 (delta +0.6%), RTX 3080 (delta -0.7%), and P106-100 (delta -1%). These are all comparable in average benchmark score, with the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 being older high-end cards. The B580's bandwidth of 456 GB/s is higher than the 580's 256 GB/s, which helps at 4K.

The GPU's measured FPS aligns with its benchmark standing: it is not a top-tier card, but it is sufficient for this game. At 1440p High, it scores 106 FPS, which is a strong result for a mid-range part. The 4K results (63-95 FPS) show that the GPU is the limiting factor there, and the memory bandwidth likely helps maintain the frame times. The Arc B580's 12 GB VRAM is more than enough; the game does not require high capacity. The GPU's role is to handle the simple pixel shading, and it does so with strong performance that scales predictably with resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The L3 cache is 24 MB shared, and the chip is built on a 10 nm process. In this game, the CPU is clearly not the limiting component: even at 1080p Low, the Arc B580 reaches 189 FPS, and the processor has ample headroom. The CPU's multi-core benchmark scores are strong—Cinebench R23 multi-core is 24491, and single-core is 2064—but these are irrelevant to a game that relies on the GPU.

The 14600K's 14 cores (6 performance and 8 efficiency) and 20 threads are far more than the game needs. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz helps in single-threaded scenes, but the game's low system requirements mean the CPU never becomes a bottleneck. The percentile ranking of 90th among all CPUs shows it's a high-end part, but its performance in this game is not the deciding factor; the FPS is GPU-bound at all settings above 1080p Low. At 1080p Low, the 189 FPS indicates the CPU can feed the GPU fast enough. At 4K Ultra, the CPU's load is likely similar, but the GPU's frame time increases, so the CPU isn't the wall.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and 10 nm process are standard for desktop parts. The measured FPS shows that the CPU is not causing any frame drops—the min FPS at Medium is 68 at 4K, which is high. The Core i5-14600K's 24 MB L3 cache helps with game data, but Dave The Diver is simple. In summary, the CPU's role is to provide a stable base without interfering; the GPU does all the heavy lifting at higher resolutions. The CPU's high boost clock and core count mean it will not limit the Arc B580 in this title.