Dave The Diver

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its architecture combines performance and efficiency cores, and it features a 25 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities, scoring 9,276 in 3DMark's 16-thread test and 29,241 in Cinebench R23 multicore. Single-thread performance is equally robust, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2,561 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,128. The CPU's percentile ranking of 89 indicates it outperforms the vast majority of processors in the database.

For Dave The Diver, this CPU configuration proves more than sufficient. At 1080p resolution with Low settings, the system achieves 305.4 FPS, indicating the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU well beyond typical display refresh rates. Even at the most demanding preset tested, 4K Ultra, the framerate remains high at 104.4 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this title. The processor's average benchmark score of 35,684 places it in close competition with its nearest rivals; it trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 by 0.3% and the Intel Core i5-14500HX by 0.7%, while leading the Intel Core i7-13700T by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-13800H by 0.8%. These marginal deltas indicate that within this performance class, the i7-12700K delivers essentially equivalent computational power, meaning game performance will be dictated almost entirely by GPU load and graphics settings rather than CPU headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The measured framerate data for Dave The Diver reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and presets. At 4K, the jump from High to Ultra costs 9.6 FPS (114 to 104.4), while dropping from High to Medium gains 12.9 FPS (114 to 126.9), and further down to Low yields 154.9 FPS. At 1440p, the High preset delivers 169.7 FPS, which is a 48.8% improvement over the 4K High result. The 1080p High setting reaches 225.7 FPS, demonstrating that this combination is overwhelmingly powerful for standard HD gaming.

The optimal experience depends on the target display. For 4K displays, the High preset at 114 FPS offers the best balance, as it maintains smooth motion while providing substantial visual fidelity over Medium (126.9 FPS) and Low (154.9 FPS). The Ultra preset at 104.4 FPS is playable but the marginal visual gain over High is not justified by the 8.4% performance reduction. For 1440p monitors, the High preset at 169.7 FPS is ideal, as it exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates while still offering superior image quality compared to Medium's 193 FPS or Low's 231.1 FPS. At 1080p, all presets exceed 200 FPS, with High at 225.7 FPS being the recommended choice; the jump to Ultra (201.4 FPS) provides diminishing returns, while Medium (254.3 FPS) and Low (305.4 FPS) sacrifice too much visual quality for framerates that most displays cannot utilize.

The data shows that the High preset consistently provides the most balanced experience across all three resolutions, offering the best compromise between visual quality and performance headroom. For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p panels, the 169.7 FPS average ensures compatibility with 165 Hz displays, while 4K users benefit from the 114 FPS average which comfortably supports 120 Hz panels. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with VRR displays who prioritize maximum image quality and can tolerate framerates in the 104-152 FPS range.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Dave The Diver at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average framerate of 114 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with High settings, indicating excellent 4K performance for this title.

Q: What is the best resolution-to-settings ratio for this combo?

A: The 1440p High preset at 169.7 FPS offers the most favorable balance, as it delivers high framerates suitable for modern high-refresh displays while maintaining substantial graphical quality.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of performance?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 201.4 FPS versus 225.7 FPS for High, a 10.8% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is 152.9 FPS versus 169.7 FPS (9.9% reduction). At 4K, Ultra yields 104.4 FPS versus 114 FPS (8.4% reduction), showing consistent scaling.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more limiting at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 305.4 FPS, which suggests the CPU can drive very high framerates. The data indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the framerate drops to 154.9 FPS at 4K Low.

Q: What framerate can I expect at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 254.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any current display technology and provides ample headroom for background tasks.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 493rd out of 1,626 tested combos, placing it in the top 30% of all systems in the database for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a combined rank of 493 out of 1,626 tested combinations for Dave The Diver. This places the system in the upper tier of performance, with only approximately 30% of tested combos delivering higher framerates in this title. The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing: the CPU's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1,043) and the GPU's substantial rasterization power combine to produce excellent results across all tested resolutions.

The rank is particularly notable given the game's release date of June 2023, which means newer hardware has entered the market since this title's launch. Despite being a 12th-gen Intel processor (released November 2021) and a 30-series GPU (released August 2020), this combo still outperforms the majority of systems tested. The CPU's average benchmark score of 35,684 and the GPU's average benchmark score of 35,787 are nearly identical, indicating a well-matched pairing where neither component significantly bottlenecks the other. This equilibrium is confirmed by the smooth scaling from 1080p to 4K, where framerates drop by a consistent proportion across settings, demonstrating that the system scales predictably with resolution demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process, featuring 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz, and its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at 19 Gbps effective across a 320-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. With 8,704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, the RTX 3080 delivers 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for ray tracing and DLSS, though these features are not specifically tested in the provided data.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU is the primary determinant of performance at higher resolutions. The framerate scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates the GPU's workload: at High settings, performance drops from 225.7 FPS at 1080p to 169.7 FPS at 1440p (24.8% reduction) and further to 114 FPS at 4K (32.8% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the fill rate and memory bandwidth utilization. The RTX 3080's 760.3 GB/s bandwidth and 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient to maintain high framerates even at 4K, as evidenced by the 104.4 FPS Ultra result.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 80 places it above 80% of all GPUs in the database, and its average benchmark score of 35,787 is closely matched with its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon Pro Duo scores 35,860 (0.2% higher), while the AMD Radeon 880M scores 35,646 (0.4% lower). The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE achieves 36,101 (0.9% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile scores 35,435 (1% lower). These competitive deltas indicate that the RTX 3080 remains a potent graphics solution, particularly for a game like Dave The Diver that does not appear to stress the GPU's ray tracing or tensor core capabilities based on the measured data. The GPU's 10 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for the tested settings, as no memory-related performance anomalies appear in the framerate measurements.