Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver, an adventure title from 2023, presents a surprisingly demanding workload for the tested combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the Intel Arc B570. The benchmark data shows that this pairing is positioned in the lower half of all tested configurations, ranking 2282 out of 2867 combos. While the Intel Arc B570 demonstrates strong raw capabilities, the aging Intel Core i5-9400 consistently limits performance, creating a system where frame rates are highly sensitive to both resolution and graphical settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor built on the Coffee Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.10 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. This processor does not support hyper-threading, meaning its six physical cores handle six threads concurrently. This specification is critical for Dave The Diver, as the game’s performance scaling indicates a heavy reliance on the CPU’s ability to manage game logic and draw calls, rather than just raw graphical throughput.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-9400 scores 6629 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 points in single-core. Its average benchmark score is 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. This places it in a competitive but not dominant position, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i7-10710U (deltaPct 0.3) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (deltaPct 0.4). The data reveals that while the CPU is adequate for the game’s minimum requirements, it struggles to feed the GPU at higher settings and lower resolutions, where the CPU’s role becomes the primary bottleneck.

At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 167 FPS, but this drops to 110 FPS at Ultra settings. This 34% frame rate reduction from Low to Ultra demonstrates that the CPU’s six threads are being saturated by the increased physics and AI calculations that come with higher game settings. The 6-thread limitation becomes evident when considering that the i5-9400’s Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 2784 is a modest figure, suggesting that the processor’s six cores are working near their limit in this adventure title. The system’s performance is not entirely CPU-bound, but the processor’s 47th percentile ranking indicates it is a mid-tier component that will struggle to maintain high refresh rates in demanding scenarios.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 sufficient for running Dave The Diver at 4K resolution?

A: The data shows the i5-9400 can handle 4K, but with limitations. At 4K Ultra settings, the system averages 55 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive gaming. The CPU’s performance ceiling is highlighted by the fact that at 4K Low settings, the system achieves 84 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU can support higher frame rates if the GPU is not the limiting factor.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its closest rivals in terms of raw benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534, representing a deltaPct of 0.1. The Intel Arc A750 is also close, with a score of 20582 and a deltaPct of -0.1. This indicates the B570 is performance-wise nearly identical to these alternatives in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the impact of enabling Ultra settings on frame rates at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the system averages 125 FPS on Low settings, but drops to 83 FPS on Ultra. This represents a 33.6% performance decrease when moving from Low to Ultra, indicating that the game’s graphics settings heavily influence the workload on the GPU and CPU. The 89 FPS minimum frame rate on Medium settings suggests that Ultra settings push the hardware to its limits, causing more frequent frame drops.

Q: Does the CPU become the limiting factor at 1080p resolution?

A: Yes, the data indicates a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The system achieves 167 FPS on Low settings, but this is nearly identical to the 125 FPS seen at 1440p Low, which is a smaller drop than expected. This plateau suggests that the i5-9400’s six threads cannot push frame rates significantly higher than 167 FPS, regardless of the GPU’s headroom. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 supports this, as it represents a moderate level of processing power for a 2018 processor.

Q: What is the thermal and power profile of the i5-9400?

A: The i5-9400 has a 65 W TDP and uses a 14 nm process node from Intel. Its integrated graphics is the UHD 630, which is not used when a discrete GPU is present. The processor’s memory support includes DDR4 with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. This power envelope is modest, making it a suitable component for standard desktop builds without exotic cooling solutions.

Q: How does the game perform in terms of minimum frame rates at 4K?

A: The only available minimum frame rate data is at 4K Medium settings, where the system records a 60 FPS minimum. This is a critical threshold, as it indicates the system can maintain a stable 60 FPS at this setting, but higher settings like Ultra (which averages 55 FPS) will likely suffer from frame drops below 60 FPS. This makes 4K Medium the maximum viable setting for a consistent experience.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions provides a clear picture of system balance. At High settings, the system achieves 124 FPS at 1080p, 94 FPS at 1440p, and 63 FPS at 4K. This translates to a 24.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution increases, since the Arc B570 must render more pixels, while the CPU’s workload remains relatively constant.

However, the scaling is not perfectly linear, which reveals the CPU’s influence. At Low settings, the system produces 167 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25.1%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32.8%. This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is holding back performance, as the GPU could potentially render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. The i5-9400’s single-core performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 935, is the limiting factor in this scenario.

The data also shows that the difference between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution decreases. At 4K, the difference between Low (84 FPS) and Ultra (55 FPS) is 34.5%. At 1080p, the difference between Low (167 FPS) and Ultra (110 FPS) is 34.1%. This consistency indicates that the game’s settings have a similar impact on GPU load across resolutions, but the CPU’s inability to exceed 167 FPS at 1080p caps the system’s maximum output. This makes the i5-9400 a significant bottleneck for high refresh rate monitors at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2282 out of 2867 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places the system in the bottom 20.4% of all configurations, indicating that it is not an optimal pairing for this specific game. The low ranking is primarily attributable to the CPU, which has a 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU has a much higher 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs. This mismatch creates a significant bottleneck where the GPU’s capabilities are not fully utilized.

The combo’s rank suggests that many other CPU and GPU pairings outperform it, even those with lower-end GPUs but more modern CPUs. The i5-9400’s six threads, while adequate for many games, struggle to keep up with the demands of Dave The Diver’s simulation and AI elements. The fact that the system only achieves a 63 FPS average at 4K High, despite the GPU’s strong benchmark scores, highlights the CPU’s role in limiting the overall experience. The 2282 rank is a clear indicator that users seeking higher frame rates or more consistent performance would need to upgrade the processor first.

The deltaPct values for the CPU’s nearest rivals show that the i5-9400 is essentially on par with other mid-range processors from a similar era. However, none of these rivals would significantly improve the system’s rank in this game, as they all share similar multi-core performance limitations. The GPU’s rivals, on the other hand, are all within 0.5% of its average score, confirming that the Arc B570 is a solid performer. The bottleneck is unequivocally the CPU, and the combo rank reflects this imbalance.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and the BMG-G21 chip, using a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). These specifications are substantial for a modern GPU, and the 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its strong position in the market.

The GPU’s memory capacity of 10 GB is a key factor for Dave The Diver at 4K resolution. The game’s texture and geometry requirements are likely to consume a significant portion of this VRAM at Ultra settings, but the system still manages an average FPS of 55 at 4K Ultra. This suggests that the 10 GB is sufficient for this title, as the bottleneck is not VRAM capacity but rather the CPU’s inability to provide enough data to the GPU. The 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is also adequate, as the system does not exhibit severe frame drops that would indicate memory bandwidth constraints.

In terms of processing power, the Arc B570 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It also includes 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU delivers 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s. These figures are high enough to handle Dave The Diver’s graphics, but the measured FPS shows that the CPU is the limiting factor. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 167 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output, while the GPU could potentially render more frames if given the chance. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2649 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844 further underscore its capability, but these scores do not translate to proportional FPS gains due to the CPU bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system’s performance across different configurations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 167 FPS on Low settings, 139 FPS on Medium, 124 FPS on High, and 110 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting also shows a minimum FPS of 118 and a maximum of 160, indicating some variability but generally stable performance. This resolution is where the CPU bottleneck is most apparent, as the frame rates plateau even when the GPU load is reduced.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 125 on Low, 105 on Medium, 94 on High, and 83 on Ultra. The Medium setting records a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS. These numbers show a clear scaling pattern with resolution, but the relative performance between settings remains consistent, with Ultra being roughly 33% slower than Low. At 4K (3840x2160), the averages are 84 FPS on Low, 70 FPS on Medium, 63 FPS on High, and 55 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting at 4K has a minimum of 60 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS, which is a crucial data point for playability.

This breakdown shows that the system is capable of running Dave The Diver at 4K Ultra with an average of 55 FPS, but the lack of a minimum FPS figure for Ultra suggests it may drop below 60 FPS. For a stable 60 FPS experience, users would need to select Medium settings at 4K, which provides a 70 FPS average and a 60 FPS minimum. At 1440p, the system can achieve over 60 FPS on all settings, with Ultra averaging 83 FPS. At 1080p, the system exceeds 110 FPS on all settings, making it suitable for high refresh rate displays, though the CPU limits the ceiling to 167 FPS.