Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

This combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 lands at rank 1725 out of 2867 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The pairing produces a curious split: the CPU sits at the 47th percentile among all processors, while the GPU reaches the 66th percentile, suggesting the processor may be the constraining element in this adventure title. The measured frame rates tell a story of a system that can handle the game comfortably at most settings, though the upper echelons of 4K performance remain out of reach.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1725 out of 2867 represents roughly the 40th percentile of all tested pairings for Dave The Diver. This is a surprisingly modest position given that the RTX 5050 outperforms several comparable graphics cards in raw benchmarks. The GPU's average benchmark score of 21035 places it just 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153) and 1% behind the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237), while sitting 1.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713). The CPU side shows a similar clustering: the i5-9400's average score of 2254 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (2259, delta -0.2%), the Intel Core i7-10710U (2248, delta 0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (2246, delta 0.4%).

What makes this rank interesting is that neither component is a standout performer in its own right, yet together they deliver playable frame rates across the board. The data suggests that Dave The Diver's requirements are modest enough that even this mid-tier combination can produce 4K gameplay, which is not typical for most titles. The rank reflects the reality that many faster combinations exist, but it also masks the fact that this system never drops below 68 FPS in any measured configuration.

The percentile positions are revealing: the CPU at 47th percentile and GPU at 66th percentile indicate a notable imbalance. In a game like Dave The Diver, where the action is largely 2D with some 3D elements, the GPU's higher standing matters more for resolution scaling, but the CPU's lower percentile could become a bottleneck in scenes with many simultaneous entities or complex physics.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Dave The Diver at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the measured data shows playable frame rates at 3840x2160 across all settings. The highest average FPS at 4K is 104 on Low settings, while Ultra still achieves 68 FPS, indicating the game remains fluid even at the most demanding resolution tested.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050's average benchmark score of 21035 places it within 1.6% of three competitors. It trails the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL by 0.6% and the AMD Radeon HD 8970M by 1%, while leading the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT by 1.6%. This tight grouping suggests the 5050 is a solid mid-range performer.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing relative to other processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 achieves an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259 with a delta of -0.2%, while the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 with a delta of 0.3%, showing negligible performance differences.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of performance and visual quality?

A: The data indicates 2560x1440 on High settings provides 116 FPS, which is 42 FPS faster than 4K High (77 FPS) while still delivering a substantial resolution upgrade over 1080p. This appears to be the sweet spot for the combination.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The evidence suggests some CPU limitation exists. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 206 FPS, but the CPU's 47th percentile ranking and its modest 6-core/6-thread configuration likely prevent even higher frame rates that the RTX 5050's 66th percentile might otherwise allow.

Q: How does the game perform at Ultra settings across different resolutions?

A: Ultra settings yield 136 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. The 34 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and the further 34 FPS drop to 4K show a consistent scaling pattern tied to pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how this combination handles increasing pixel counts. At High settings, the system delivers 154 FPS at 1920x1080, drops to 116 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 77 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 50% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is less severe than the 4x pixel count increase might suggest, indicating the game is not purely GPU-bound at these settings.

The Low settings curve is steeper: 206 FPS at 1080p falls to 155 FPS at 1440p (a 25% drop) and then to 104 FPS at 4K (a 33% drop from 1440p). This pattern suggests that at lower settings, the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at 1080p, capping performance around 206 FPS. As resolution increases and pixel throughput demands more GPU resources, the bottleneck shifts toward the graphics card, which explains the proportional frame rate declines.

Medium settings show a middle ground: 172 FPS at 1080p, 129 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K. The consistent step-downs of roughly 43 FPS between resolutions indicate a balanced workload distribution. Ultra settings, by contrast, show a more compressed range: 136 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K, with each step reducing performance by about 34 FPS.

The data implies that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the i5-9400's 6-core, 6-thread configuration and 2.90 GHz base clock (4.10 GHz boost) likely constrain maximum frame rates. At 4K, the RTX 5050's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes the primary factor, as pixel fill rates and memory bandwidth determine throughput.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p displays, Low settings provide 206 FPS, which is excessive for most monitors capped at 144 Hz or 165 Hz. High settings at 154 FPS offer a better visual experience while still exceeding typical refresh rates. Medium at 172 FPS is also viable, but High delivers superior image quality with only an 18 FPS penalty compared to Medium, making it the recommended choice for 1080p.

At 1440p, the decision becomes more nuanced. High settings produce 116 FPS, comfortably above 60 FPS and suitable for most high-refresh monitors. Medium at 129 FPS offers a 13 FPS improvement but likely reduces visual fidelity noticeably. Ultra at 102 FPS remains playable and might appeal to users prioritizing image quality over frame rate. The data suggests High is the optimal balance, as it retains substantial visual quality while maintaining high responsiveness.

For 4K resolution, the options narrow considerably. Ultra at 68 FPS is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. High at 77 FPS provides a 9 FPS improvement and likely looks nearly identical at this pixel density. Medium at 87 FPS offers the best combination of smoothness and quality, with the minimum FPS of 74 still staying above typical 60 FPS thresholds. Low at 104 FPS is the performance choice but sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that shines through its art style.

Overall, the measured data points to Medium settings at 4K as the most balanced configuration, while High at 1440p and High at 1080p serve as the recommended presets for those resolutions. The min FPS values at Medium (74 at 4K, 110 at 1440p, 146 at 1080p) indicate consistent frame pacing without significant stutters.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest performance. Low settings achieve 206 FPS average, Medium reaches 172 FPS with a minimum of 146 and maximum of 198, High produces 154 FPS, and Ultra drops to 136 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 70 FPS, which is the largest range across all resolutions, indicating that at 1080p the settings have the most pronounced impact on frame rates.

The 2560x1440 results show a tighter spread of 53 FPS between Low (155 FPS) and Ultra (102 FPS). Medium averages 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 and maximum of 149, while High sits at 116 FPS. The narrower range at 1440p suggests the GPU begins to exert more influence, compressing the performance differences between settings.

At 3840x2160, the spread narrows further to 36 FPS: Low averages 104 FPS, Medium 87 FPS (minimum 74, maximum 100), High 77 FPS, and Ultra 68 FPS. This compression demonstrates that at 4K, the RTX 5050's capabilities become the dominant factor, reducing the relative impact of settings changes. The minimum FPS of 74 at Medium 4K is particularly notable, as it stays above the 60 FPS threshold even in demanding moments.

The progression across resolutions for each setting follows a consistent pattern. High drops from 154 to 116 to 77 FPS as resolution increases. Low goes from 206 to 155 to 104 FPS. Medium decreases from 172 to 129 to 87 FPS. Ultra falls from 136 to 102 to 68 FPS. These linear progressions suggest no unexpected bottlenecks or thermal throttling issues in the measured data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 brings 6 cores and 6 threads to this pairing, operating at a 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.10 GHz boost clock. This Coffee Lake Refresh architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process, represents a mid-2018 design that has aged into the lower-middle tier of processors, as evidenced by its 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role appears significant at lower resolutions. The 206 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low suggests the processor limits frame rates once pixel work becomes trivial for the GPU. The 6-thread configuration means the game can only utilize six concurrent threads, which might constrain performance in scenes with many active entities or complex physics calculations. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate data locality for a game of this scope, while the 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth on dual-channel DDR4 supports the modest data demands.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. Cinebench R23 multi-core produces 6629 points, while single-core reaches 935. Geekbench multi-core scores 5141 with single-core at 1389. These numbers place the i5-9400 in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals, all within 0.4% of its average score of 2254. The close competition from mobile and lower-tier desktop chips indicates that the i5-9400 is not a performance leader but rather a dependable workhorse.

For Dave The Diver specifically, the CPU appears sufficient for maintaining playable frame rates but not for pushing beyond the 200 FPS threshold at 1080p. The game's adventure genre typically involves moderate CPU loads, and the i5-9400's 6-core configuration handles these adequately. However, the 47th percentile ranking suggests that users seeking maximum frame rates at 1080p might benefit from a newer processor with higher single-thread performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, serves as the more capable half of this pairing. With 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines, the GPU delivers 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves adequate for Dave The Diver's visual requirements.

The GPU's benchmark results show a 66th percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals cluster tightly: the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21153 (0.6% faster), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237 (1% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20713 (1.6% slower). This grouping indicates the RTX 5050 performs competitively within its class, though it is not a standout.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU demonstrates its strength through resolution scaling. At 4K Ultra, the card maintains 68 FPS, which is respectable for a game that may not heavily utilize the RTX 5050's 20 ray tracing cores or 80 tensor cores. The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears sufficient, as the game's art style likely does not exceed this allocation even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's clock speeds of 2317 MHz base and 2572 MHz boost, combined with a 130 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU, indicate an efficient design. The 5 nm process and 149 mm² die size with 16,900 million transistors contribute to the card's performance-per-watt characteristics. For Dave The Diver, the RTX 5050 proves more than capable, delivering 77 FPS at 4K High and 136 FPS at 1080p Ultra, demonstrating that the game's demands align well with the GPU's mid-range capabilities.

The GPU's higher percentile ranking compared to the CPU suggests that in this combination, the graphics card is the stronger component. This creates a system where higher resolutions and settings benefit from the GPU's strength, while lower resolutions might expose CPU limitations. The data confirms this dynamic, with the smallest performance gaps between settings occurring at 4K, where the GPU dominates the workload.