Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

The benchmark data for this combo reveals a system that punches well above its mid-range pedigree in Dave The Diver, an Adventure title that clearly favors GPU throughput over CPU muscle. Across all twelve measured configurations—four resolutions at three settings levels plus Ultra—the RTX 2060 with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory delivers playable frame rates even at 4K, which is remarkable for a card whose average benchmark score places it at the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The i5-9400, a 6-core/6-thread Coffee Lake part from 2018, sits at the 50th percentile among CPUs and yet never appears to bottleneck the experience. The data suggests a well-balanced pairing where the GPU does the heavy lifting, but the CPU keeps pace without drama.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but not catastrophic, revealing a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 130.5 FPS at 1920x1080 to 99.7 FPS at 2560x1440—a 23.6% reduction—and then to 64.3 FPS at 3840x2160, which is another 35.5% drop from 1440p. This scaling pattern is classic for a GPU-limited scenario: the RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 192-bit bus become the constraining factors as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

Low settings tell a similar story but with more headroom. The 177.6 FPS at 1080p Low drops to 135.1 FPS at 1440p (a 23.9% decrease) and then to 88.4 FPS at 4K (a 34.6% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings—roughly 24% from 1080p to 1440p and 35% from 1440p to 4K—indicates that the rendering pipeline scales predictably, with no sudden cliff or unexpected stall. This is a game that respects resolution scaling without algorithmic surprises.

The most telling observation comes from comparing Low and Ultra at the same resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (177.6 FPS) and Ultra (116.4 FPS) is 61.2 FPS, but at 4K, the gap narrows to 28.0 FPS (88.4 vs 60.4). This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that settings adjustments yield diminishing returns—the pixel fill rate becomes the wall, not the shader complexity. For a 6 GB card, this is expected behavior; the memory subsystem is likely the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060's specifications directly explain its measured performance envelope. With 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, the card delivers 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is modest by modern standards but entirely sufficient for an Adventure game. The boost clock of 1680 MHz (base 1365 MHz) provides the raw speed, while the 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus offers 336.0 GB/s bandwidth—a figure that becomes critical at 4K resolutions where texture streaming and framebuffer writes demand high throughput.

The 4K Ultra result of 60.4 FPS is particularly noteworthy. It sits just above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that the card is running at or near its architectural limits. The passmark G3D score of 14111 and the DirectX 12 score of 53 (from passmark_directx_12) indicate a card that handles modern APIs competently, though the relatively low DX12 score compared to the G3D aggregate hints that the 2060's Turing architecture is more comfortable with older rendering paths. The game's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is present on this GPU, but the measured FPS suggests the title doesn't heavily leverage ray tracing or mesh shaders—it's a rasterization-heavy workload.

Comparing to nearest rivals, the RTX 2060's average benchmark score of 16074 places it 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). The two AMD Pro cards (5600M and 5700) both score 16351, putting them 1.7% ahead. These are tight margins, meaning the 2060's real-world game performance is competitive with those parts, but the 6 GB VRAM cap could become a liability in future titles—though not in Dave The Diver, where the data shows no VRAM-related stutter or frame dips.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop more from 1440p to 4K than from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The percentage drops are similar (roughly 24% and 35% respectively), but the absolute drop is larger at higher resolutions. At 4K, the RTX 2060's 336.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes the limiting factor, compressing the difference between settings levels—the gap between Low and Ultra shrinks from 61.2 FPS at 1080p to 28.0 FPS at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM sufficient for Dave The Diver at max settings?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related issues. At 4K Ultra, the card maintains 60.4 FPS average, which indicates the 6 GB GDDR6 pool is adequate for this game's texture and geometry demands. The game likely doesn't exceed 6 GB even at 4K, given the consistent frame times.

Q: How does this CPU-GPU combo compare to the RTX 2060's nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average score of 16074 is 0.5% above the RX 7600S and 1.8% above the W5500, while being 1.7% below the Pro 5600M and Pro 5700. In-game, this translates to the 4K High result of 64.3 FPS, which suggests the 2060 holds its own against those AMD parts in this title.

Q: What's the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 1440p High, the system delivers 99.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. At 4K High, it drops to 64.3 FPS—still playable but with less headroom. For a 144Hz monitor, 1080p High (130.5 FPS) or 1440p Low (135.1 FPS) are the sweet spots.

Q: Why does the CPU's percentile rank (50th) not seem to hurt performance?

A: Dave The Diver is an Adventure game that likely doesn't stress CPU threads heavily. The i5-9400's 6 cores and 6 threads with a 4.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU, as evidenced by the smooth scaling pattern. The CPU's nearest rival, the i3-10305, scores 2300 vs the i5's 2305—a 0.2% difference—showing this is a mid-pack part that doesn't bottleneck here.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra result of 60.4 FPS a fluke or repeatable?

A: The data is measured (dataIsMeasured: true), not estimated. The 60.4 FPS average at 4K Ultra sits just above the 60 FPS line, which suggests the game is well-optimized for this GPU's capabilities. The drop from High (64.3 FPS) to Ultra (60.4 FPS) is only 3.9 FPS, indicating Ultra settings add minimal overhead.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 delivers excellent performance across all settings. Low settings average 177.6 FPS, Medium 148.8 FPS, High 130.5 FPS, and Ultra 116.4 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 28.8 FPS, while Medium to High costs 18.3 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 14.1 FPS. This diminishing penalty suggests the game's settings scale primarily through shadow quality and post-processing effects rather than geometry complexity.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain strong. Low averages 135.1 FPS, Medium 113.5 FPS, High 99.7 FPS, and Ultra 88.4 FPS. The gaps between settings are 21.6 FPS (Low to Medium), 13.8 FPS (Medium to High), and 11.3 FPS (High to Ultra). The proportional reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent—about 24% across all settings—confirming a uniform pixel-count penalty.

At 3840x2160, the system stays playable but with less margin. Low averages 88.4 FPS, Medium 73.2 FPS, High 64.3 FPS, and Ultra 60.4 FPS. The setting-to-setting drops are 15.2 FPS (Low to Medium), 8.9 FPS (Medium to High), and 3.9 FPS (High to Ultra). The tiny 3.9 FPS penalty for Ultra over High at 4K is notable—it suggests that at this resolution, the GPU is so fill-rate-bound that additional shader work barely registers.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the data strongly favors High settings. The 64.3 FPS average at 4K High is 3.9 FPS faster than Ultra (60.4 FPS) and still looks nearly as good, while Medium (73.2 FPS) offers a 8.9 FPS improvement over High but likely with visible quality degradation. The 4K Low result of 88.4 FPS is tempting for competitive play, but for an Adventure game, visual fidelity matters more—High is the balanced choice.

At 1440p, Ultra is the clear winner. The 88.4 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS floor, and the gap from High (99.7 FPS) to Ultra (88.4 FPS) is only 11.3 FPS, which is a small price for maxed-out visuals. If you prefer higher refresh rates, 1440p Medium at 113.5 FPS is the best compromise, but Ultra is viable.

For 1080p, any setting works. Even Ultra at 116.4 FPS exceeds what most 60Hz monitors can display, and 1080p High (130.5 FPS) is ideal for 120Hz panels. The 177.6 FPS Low result is overkill unless you're chasing 165Hz+ refresh rates. In summary: 4K High, 1440p Ultra, 1080p High—these are the data-backed sweet spots.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400's specifications—6 cores, 6 threads, 2.90 GHz base, 4.10 GHz boost—appear modest on paper, but the measured FPS data shows no CPU-induced frame caps. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 place this CPU at the 50th percentile, yet in Dave The Diver, the frame rates scale linearly with GPU load, which is the signature of a non-bottlenecked system.

The CPU's nearest rivals reinforce its mid-tier positioning. The i3-10305 scores 2300 (0.2% higher than the i5's 2305 average), the i3-1125G4 scores 2299 (0.2% higher), and the Xeon E-2134 scores 2295 (0.4% higher). Only the i7-8809G (2319) is faster, by 0.6%. These tight margins mean any of these CPUs would likely produce identical frame rates in this game—the GPU is the limiting component.

At 4K, the CPU's role diminishes further. The fact that 4K Low (88.4 FPS) is identical to 1440p Ultra (88.4 FPS) is a striking data point. This suggests that at 4K, the i5-9400's single-thread performance (1125 in R23) is sufficient to feed the GPU, and the game's AI, physics, and game logic (likely single-threaded) don't overwhelm the 4.10 GHz boost clock. The 6-thread count is adequate for an Adventure title that doesn't spawn dozens of concurrent agents.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 1346 out of 1626 tested combinations in Dave The Diver, placing it in the bottom 17% of all systems. That sounds poor, but context matters: the combo is running an end-of-life CPU (released 2018) and an end-of-life GPU (released 2019), both of which have been superseded by multiple generations. The rank reflects the hardware's age, not its absolute capability—the measured FPS shows this combo comfortably handles the game at 4K.

The percentile data reinforces this. The GPU sits at the 58th percentile of all GPUs, meaning 42% of GPUs are slower, while the CPU is at the 50th percentile. For a game like Dave The Diver, which doesn't demand extreme hardware, this combo's 4K High result of 64.3 FPS is more relevant than its global rank. The rank of 1346/1626 likely includes many systems with faster GPUs but also many with slower ones; the data shows this pairing is perfectly playable for the target audience.

The deltaPct comparisons to nearest rivals provide additional context. The GPU's average score is 0.5% above the RX 7600S, meaning this combo would perform nearly identically to a system with that GPU. The CPU's 0.2% edge over the i3-10305 means swapping to that part would yield no measurable difference. In short, this combo's rank is a reflection of the hardware's vintage, but its in-game performance tells a more flattering story: it's a capable 4K Adventure machine, not a relic.