Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

This combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 1248 out of 3710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the upper third of all system configurations tested for this adventure title. The ranking reflects a pairing that delivers strong performance across all tested resolutions, with the GPU clearly dominating the performance envelope while the six-core CPU provides adequate support for the game's demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1248 out of 3710 represents a solid position, meaning roughly two-thirds of tested configurations fall below this pairing. This placement is particularly interesting given the CPU's age — the Intel Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile against all CPUs, yet the total combo still outperforms many newer systems. The data indicates that Dave The Diver's performance is heavily weighted toward GPU capability rather than CPU horsepower, allowing this older six-core processor to remain competitive.

The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking against all GPUs shows a significant disparity between the two components' relative strengths. The RTX 5070's benchmark average of 40377 places it in the upper tier of graphics cards, while the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254 puts it near the middle of the CPU distribution. This imbalance suggests the CPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, yet the overall combo still performs admirably because the game's workload does not heavily stress processor resources.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the performance deltas are remarkably tight — the i5-9400 trails the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 by just 0.2%, leads the Intel Core i7-10710U by 0.3%, and sits 0.4% above the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500. These sub-1% differences indicate that the CPU's performance class is well-established, with no meaningful separation between these competing processors. The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering, with the AMD Radeon Pro 580 just 0.1% behind and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile 2% behind, confirming the RTX 5070's position in a tightly contested performance band.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 brings substantial resources to Dave The Diver, starting with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration proves more than sufficient for the game's demands, as even at 4K Ultra settings the average frame rate stays well above playable thresholds. The Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 31,100 million transistors, provides the computational foundation for the observed performance.

Clock speeds see the GPU operating at a base of 2325 MHz and boosting to 2512 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 6144 shading units give the card ample raw compute for this adventure title, though the game's modest graphical requirements mean the card rarely operates at full capacity. The 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores provide headroom for future titles or additional graphical features, though Dave The Diver does not appear to leverage these specialized units heavily based on the performance patterns.

The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking against all GPUs and average benchmark score of 40377 place it well above the median graphics card. In the context of this game, the RTX 5070 demonstrates its capability by maintaining high frame rates even at 4K resolution, where the 113 FPS average at Ultra settings indicates the card is never bottlenecked by memory bandwidth or pixel throughput. The 80 ROPs and 201.0 GPixel/s pixel rate contribute to the card's ability to handle the game's rendering demands at any resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals interesting scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 198 FPS at 1920x1080 to 180 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 128 FPS at 3840x2160 — representing a 35% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This scaling behavior suggests the GPU remains the primary performance driver throughout the resolution range, with the CPU providing consistent support even as pixel count increases.

Low settings show the tightest performance envelope across resolutions, with 219 FPS at 1080p, 199 FPS at 1440p, and 172 FPS at 4K. The 47 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at Low settings indicates that even with minimal graphical load, the system cannot maintain identical performance at higher resolutions — a clear sign that GPU rasterization capacity becomes increasingly relevant as pixel count grows.

The Medium settings tier provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded alongside averages. At 4K Medium, the average of 144 FPS with a minimum of 122 and maximum of 165 shows a 30% variance between min and max, suggesting some scenes place heavier demands on the system. The 1440p Medium configuration delivers 187 FPS average with a tighter 159-215 range, while 1080p Medium reaches 206 FPS average with 175-237 range. These numbers indicate that the limiting component shifts subtly with resolution — at 1080p the CPU may occasionally constrain performance, while at 4K the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-9400 bottleneck the RTX 5070 in Dave The Diver?

A: The data shows minimal CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 219 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra it maintains 189 FPS — a modest 14% reduction that suggests the CPU keeps pace even at lower graphical settings where GPU load is reduced. The CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads with a 4.10 GHz boost clock appear sufficient for this game's demands.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: The data indicates 1440p offers the best balance, with 169-199 FPS across all settings. At 4K, the system still delivers playable performance (113-172 FPS depending on settings), but the frame rate drop from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced, suggesting diminishing returns at the highest resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 places it 0.1% above the AMD Radeon Pro 580, 0.8% above the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, 1.2% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, and 2% above the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile. These tiny margins show the card sits in a competitive performance band.

Q: Is the i5-9400's age a concern for this game?

A: Despite being an end-of-life processor from the Coffee Lake generation, the i5-9400 achieves a 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals show performance differences under 0.5%, and the measured FPS data shows no catastrophic frame drops, indicating the processor remains viable for Dave The Diver.

Q: What settings provide the highest minimum frame rate at 4K?

A: At 4K, the only settings tier with recorded minimum FPS is Medium, showing a 122 FPS minimum. This suggests Medium settings at 4K provide the most consistent frame pacing, while other settings tiers may have more variable performance.

Q: How much performance headroom does the GPU have in this game?

A: The RTX 5070 maintains at least 113 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating substantial headroom. The card's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are not fully utilized, as evidenced by the 172 FPS at 4K Low — the GPU could likely handle even more demanding titles.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests Medium settings provide the optimal balance between visual quality and performance consistency. This is the only settings tier with recorded minimum frame rate values across all three resolutions, indicating the developers' quality presets at Medium produce the most stable frame pacing. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 206 FPS average with a 175 FPS minimum; at 1440p Medium, 187 FPS average with a 159 FPS minimum; and at 4K Medium, 144 FPS average with a 122 FPS minimum.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, Low settings at 1080p deliver 219 FPS, representing the highest measured average in the entire dataset. The difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 13 FPS (219 vs 206), suggesting that Medium provides nearly identical performance with improved visual quality. At 4K, the jump from Low to Medium costs 28 FPS (172 to 144), while the jump from Medium to High costs another 16 FPS (144 to 128), and High to Ultra costs 15 FPS (128 to 113).

Ultra settings represent the most demanding configuration, with 189 FPS at 1080p, 169 FPS at 1440p, and 113 FPS at 4K. While these numbers remain playable, the performance cost of Ultra compared to Medium becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions — the 4K gap of 31 FPS suggests diminishing returns for the visual upgrade. The data supports Medium as the sweet spot, particularly because it's the only preset with documented minimum FPS values, implying more predictable frame delivery.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides 6 cores and 6 threads operating at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz. This Coffee Lake Refresh processor, built on Intel's 14 nm process, offers 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 64 KB L1 plus 256 KB L2 per core. The CPU's memory support for DDR4 in dual-channel configuration with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth proves adequate for feeding the GPU, though it lacks the higher bandwidth of newer platforms.

Benchmark results show the i5-9400 achieving 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, along with 5141 in Geekbench multi-core and 1389 in single-core. These scores place the processor at the 47th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. The nearest rivals — Intel Core i7-1068NG7, Intel Core i7-10710U, AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, and Intel Core i3-10305 — all fall within a 0.4% performance band, demonstrating that the i5-9400 remains competitive with several newer processors.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The 47 FPS drop from 1080p Low (219 FPS) to 4K Low (172 FPS) primarily reflects GPU workload scaling, while the CPU maintains consistent support across resolutions. The processor's 65 W TDP and PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes provide sufficient bandwidth for the RTX 5070, though the older platform lacks PCIe 5.0 support that newer CPUs offer. The data suggests that in this particular game, the CPU's 6 threads are adequate, with no evidence of thread saturation limiting performance at any tested configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 219 FPS, followed by Medium at 206 FPS (minimum 175, maximum 237), High at 198 FPS, and Ultra at 189 FPS. The 30 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p represents a 14% performance cost for maximum visual quality.

The 2560x1440 resolution shows a predictable performance reduction. Low settings average 199 FPS, Medium delivers 187 FPS (minimum 159, maximum 215), High achieves 180 FPS, and Ultra maintains 169 FPS. The 30 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p matches the 1080p delta in absolute terms, though the percentage difference grows to 15%.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low settings average 172 FPS, Medium produces 144 FPS (minimum 122, maximum 165), High reaches 128 FPS, and Ultra falls to 113 FPS. The 59 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K represents a 34% performance reduction — more than double the percentage cost seen at lower resolutions. The Medium settings at 4K show the widest min-max spread of any configuration tested (122-165 FPS, a 43 FPS range), suggesting that this setting combination experiences the most variable scene complexity.

Across all resolutions, the pattern holds: Medium settings provide the only complete data with minimum and maximum values, indicating more consistent frame delivery. The 1080p Medium range of 175-237 FPS shows a 62 FPS spread, while 1440p Medium spans 159-215 FPS (56 FPS spread), and 4K Medium covers 122-165 FPS (43 FPS spread). These ranges suggest that higher resolutions actually compress the frame delivery variance, likely because the GPU becomes more consistently saturated and less susceptible to CPU-driven frame time spikes.