Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an interesting scaling study for the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination. The measured data shows a clear and predictable drop in performance as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop is relatively modest for a game of this genre, indicating that the RTX 3070 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the average frame rates are exceptionally high, with the Low preset hitting 262 FPS, but the scaling to 4K shows a significant, though not drastic, reduction in headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 and finally to 3840x2160 reveals a consistent pattern across all four settings presets. In the High preset, the average FPS drops from 198.3 at 1080p to 149.8 at 1440p, a reduction of 48.5 FPS, and then further down to 101.9 at 4K. This represents a roughly 24% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 32% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The data indicates that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed increasingly as pixel count rises, though the game remains highly playable even at the highest resolution.

For the Ultra preset, the scaling is even more pronounced. The average frame rate starts at 175.4 FPS at 1080p, falls to 132.5 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 90.7 FPS at 4K. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets widens with resolution, with a 32.6% difference at 1080p (262 FPS vs. 175.4 FPS) growing to a 32.3% difference at 4K (134 FPS vs. 90.7 FPS). This suggests that the GPU’s shading units and texture rate are the bottleneck, as they are required to process more complex lighting and geometry at higher quality settings, which is a more demanding task at 4K.

The Low preset data is particularly revealing for understanding the CPU’s role. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 262 FPS, which is only slightly lower than the 4K Low result of 134 FPS when considering the resolution jump. The fact that 1080p Low yields a frame rate over 60 FPS higher than 1440p Low (196.2 FPS) shows that the CPU can feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU’s rendering limits become the dominant factor once the resolution increases. The measured FPS at 4K Low is 134, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that even at the most demanding resolution, this combo does not become CPU-bound.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested combinations for Dave The Diver, this pairing of the Core i7-12700K and RTX 3070 sits at rank 719 out of 1626 combos. This places it in the upper-middle tier of the database, which is a reasonable position for a setup that is not top-of-the-line but is well above average. The CPU’s percentile vs. all CPUs is 89, and the GPU’s percentile vs. all GPUs is 72, so the ranking reflects a strong processor paired with a competent, but not flagship, graphics card.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its synthetic performance. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 has an average score that is 0.3% lower, while the Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% higher, indicating that the i7-12700K is firmly in the middle of its performance class. The Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% ahead, and the Intel Core i7-13800H is 0.8% behind. These small deltas mean that in a game like Dave The Diver, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the CPU choice has a limited impact on the final frame rate compared to the GPU.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT has an average score 0.9% higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is 1% ahead. The AMD FirePro S7150 is 0.6% lower, and the AMD Radeon R9 M295X is 1.1% lower. This data confirms that the RTX 3070 is a solid mid-range performer, and its ranking in this specific game is likely driven by its memory bandwidth and core clock, which are sufficient for the game’s demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process from Samsung. It has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz, which are modest figures but are complemented by a high shader count of 5888. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is a key factor in the 4K performance we observe. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 90.7, which is above the playable threshold, but the drop from 1080p Ultra (175.4 FPS) shows that the memory bandwidth is being saturated as resolution increases.

The card’s texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s are the raw throughput metrics that determine how quickly it can fill the screen. In Dave The Diver, which features a mix of 2D and 3D elements, these rates are more than adequate, as evidenced by the high frame rates even at 4K. The FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS is a strong indicator of raw compute capability, but the game’s reliance on simpler shading models means that this power is not fully utilized, allowing for the high FPS numbers seen across all presets.

The GPU’s power draw is rated at 220 W, and it has a dual-slot design with a single 12-pin power connector. This suggests that the card is not a power-hungry monster, and the suggested PSU of 550 W is in line with what a mid-range system would have. The RTX 3070’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 ensures that it can handle modern API features, but the game’s performance is more dependent on raw fill rate and memory bandwidth than on advanced ray tracing or DLSS features, which are not highlighted in the measured data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a complete matrix of average FPS for each resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 262 FPS, Medium delivers 223.1 FPS, High delivers 198.3 FPS, and Ultra delivers 175.4 FPS. This shows a clear hierarchy where each step up in quality costs roughly 15-20% of performance. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 86.6 FPS, which is a substantial gap but still leaves the Ultra preset well above the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 196.2 FPS, Medium delivers 168.2 FPS, High delivers 149.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers 132.5 FPS. The relative ordering is preserved, but the absolute numbers are lower, as expected. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 63.7 FPS, which is smaller than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck. At 3840x2160, the Low preset hits 134 FPS, Medium hits 113.5 FPS, High hits 101.9 FPS, and Ultra hits 90.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 43.3 FPS, which is the smallest of the three resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor.

The highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset is 262 FPS at 1080p Low, while the lowest is 90.7 FPS at 4K Ultra. This range of 171.3 FPS demonstrates the flexibility of this combo, allowing for competitive frame rates at low settings or a smooth, high-fidelity experience at 4K. The data shows that the RTX 3070 is capable of maintaining an average FPS above 90 in all tested scenarios, which is a strong result for a game that is not graphically intensive by modern standards.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the display resolution. For users with a 1080p display, the High preset at 198.3 FPS is the best balance, as it provides a very high frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, while the Ultra preset at 175.4 FPS is also viable if a user prioritizes visual fidelity and has a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate display. The Low and Medium presets are not recommended for 1080p, as they offer no tangible benefit over the higher presets, given the ample headroom.

For a 1440p display, the High preset at 149.8 FPS is the recommended starting point, as it offers a frame rate that is smooth for both 120 Hz and 144 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 132.5 FPS is also a strong choice, as it is still above the 120 FPS threshold and provides the best image quality. The Medium preset at 168.2 FPS could be used if a user wants to ensure a stable frame rate on a 165 Hz monitor, but the visual step down from High is noticeable in the data.

For 4K displays, the Ultra preset at 90.7 FPS is the best experience, as it delivers the highest visual quality while remaining above the 60 FPS playability floor. The High preset at 101.9 FPS is a viable alternative for those who prefer a higher frame rate buffer, but the difference in visual quality is minimal in this game. The Low preset at 134 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as it sacrifices too much quality for a frame rate that the GPU can already achieve at higher settings. The data suggests that the Ultra preset at 4K is the best choice for this combo, as the RTX 3070 has enough headroom to handle the game’s demands without compromising on visual fidelity.