Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a demanding title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 confirms this pairing is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions and heavily CPU-limited at 4K. The benchmark results show a 220.1 FPS average at 1080p Low, which is the highest recorded figure, but the scaling curve flattens dramatically as resolution increases, revealing a system where the six-core processor is the primary constraint. This combo ranks 634th out of 1626 tested configurations, placing it in the upper-middle tier, which aligns with a CPU that sits at the 50th percentile among all processors and a GPU that is in the 80th percentile.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is moderate but revealing, with the most significant loss occurring between 1440p and 2160p. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 199 FPS at 1080p to 172.1 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 26.9 FPS, and then to 116 FPS at 4K, a further 56.1 FPS drop. This pattern indicates that while the RTX 3080 has substantial headroom at 1080p and 1440p, the 4K resolution begins to tax the GPU more heavily. However, the gap between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is only 51.2 FPS (151.6 vs 100.4), which is surprisingly narrow for such a powerful graphics card, suggesting that the CPU is preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs even at the highest resolution.

Data shows that the scaling between 1080p and 1440p is minimal for all presets, with the largest delta being just 22.9 FPS on the Low preset (220.1 to 197.2). This small difference proves that the Core i5-9400 is the limiting factor in this range, as a GPU-bound scenario would typically show a more pronounced drop when pixel count increases by 78%. The move from 1440p to 4K produces a more substantial decline, averaging around 40-50 FPS across presets, which finally allows the GPU to become the bottleneck. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 100.4 FPS, which is still comfortably playable, but the system never reaches the 240 FPS territory that the RTX 3080 could theoretically hit on a faster CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. In Dave The Diver, this processor is clearly the ceiling at 1080p, as evidenced by the fact that the Low preset only delivers 220.1 FPS, which is just 30.3 FPS higher than the High preset at 199 FPS. This marginal difference indicates that the CPU is saturated, and additional graphical settings reductions cannot unlock more frames.

The processor's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, have average scores within 0.2% of the i5-9400, confirming that it performs at the level of a modern quad-core or low-end six-core. In this game, the CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the lack of hyper-threading limits its ability to handle background tasks alongside the game. The data points to the CPU being the primary constraint at 1440p High, where the 172.1 FPS result is only 27.1 FPS lower than at 1080p, a small drop that suggests the GPU is waiting on the processor to feed it frames.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is a high-end Ampere architecture card with 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with an effective speed of 19 Gbps, and its boost clock is 1710 MHz. With 8704 shading units and 68 RT cores, the GPU is massively overqualified for Dave The Diver, as shown by its 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs and a PassMark G3D score of 25086. The card's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, has an average score 0.9% higher, but in this specific game, the RTX 3080 produces frame rates that are far beyond what the 60 FPS target requires.

The GPU's role only becomes fully realized at 4K Ultra, where it pushes 100.4 FPS. This is the only resolution/preset combination where the GPU is genuinely stressed, and even then, the result is still high. The 10 GB VRAM is more than enough for this adventure title, as the data shows no signs of texture thrashing or memory limitations. The FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS and the texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are theoretical maximums that the game rarely approaches, given the CPU bottleneck. At 4K Low, the RTX 3080 manages 151.6 FPS, which is 51.2 FPS higher than Ultra, indicating that the card can easily handle the graphical load when the CPU is not the constraint, but it is still not reaching its full potential.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, delivering 172.1 FPS. This is a stark improvement over the 4K High result of 116 FPS, and it stays well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. For users with 1080p displays, the High preset at 199 FPS is the sweet spot, as the jump to Ultra only costs 9.2 FPS (189.8) but provides marginal visual gains, while dropping to Medium only adds 5.9 FPS (204.9), which is not worth the reduction in quality.

At 4K, the High preset is the most sensible choice, as it yields 116 FPS, which is 15.6 FPS higher than Ultra (100.4) and only 16.1 FPS lower than Medium (132.1). The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 110 FPS, and given the game's non-competitive nature, the 15.6 FPS sacrifice is not justified by the visual improvements. The Low preset at any resolution is unnecessary, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra setting remains playable. The data indicates that players should prioritize the High preset across all resolutions to maintain consistent frame rates without sacrificing the game's charming art style.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 634th out of 1626 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the 61st percentile of all configurations. This ranking is lower than what the GPU alone would suggest, given that the RTX 3080 sits in the 80th percentile among GPUs, but it is higher than the CPU's individual 50th percentile ranking. The discrepancy highlights the significant CPU bottleneck, as the system's performance is dragged down by the processor's inability to keep pace with the graphics card.

The combo's rank is respectable but unremarkable, as it sits in the upper-middle tier of tested systems. The data implies that pairing this GPU with a stronger CPU, such as the Intel Core i7-8809G, which has a 0.6% higher average score, would yield a much better rank. However, for this specific pairing, the results are still excellent in absolute terms, with no preset falling below 100 FPS. The rank reflects the game's optimization rather than the hardware's synergy, as the RTX 3080 is clearly more capable than the i5-9400 in this scenario.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 bottlenecking the RTX 3080 in Dave The Diver?

A: Yes, the data shows a minimal FPS difference between 1080p and 1440p High (199 vs 172.1), indicating the CPU is the limiting factor at these resolutions.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 220.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 3080 perform at 4K Ultra in this game?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers 100.4 FPS, which is the lowest recorded average but still well above 60 FPS.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 634th out of 1626 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle tier of performance.

Q: Which preset provides the best experience at 2560x1440?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 provides 172.1 FPS, offering the best balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: Does the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM ever become a limitation?

A: No, the data shows no performance degradation due to VRAM, as frame rates remain high across all resolutions and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers the following average FPS: Low settings produce 220.1 FPS, Medium produces 204.9 FPS, High produces 199 FPS, and Ultra produces 189.8 FPS. The 1080p results are all above 189 FPS, with a narrow spread of 30.3 FPS between the lowest and highest presets.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 197.2 FPS on Low, 189.6 FPS on Medium, 172.1 FPS on High, and 154.5 FPS on Ultra. The spread widens to 42.7 FPS, with the Low preset remaining above 190 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 151.6 FPS on Low, 132.1 FPS on Medium, 116 FPS on High, and 100.4 FPS on Ultra. The 4K spread is 51.2 FPS, and every preset maintains an average above 100 FPS, confirming that this combo is more than capable of running the game at maximum resolution with playable frame rates.