Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Dave The Diver, with every tested configuration clearing the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin. The data shows a combo that never struggles, even at 4K Ultra, where the average frame rate still lands at 79.8 FPS. This is a pairing where the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads, combined with the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, produce headroom that makes the game feel effortless across the entire resolution spectrum.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet informative scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 242.5 FPS, which drops to 123.4 FPS at 4K Low — a reduction of roughly 49% when moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. This halving of performance at the lowest settings strongly suggests that the RTX 5060 becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises, rather than the Intel Core i7-12700K.

The scaling at High settings tells a similar story: 185.9 FPS at 1080p falls to 135.5 FPS at 1440p and then to 89.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 34%. This accelerating decline as resolution increases points to GPU-bound behavior — the CPU has ample headroom, evidenced by 242.5 FPS at 1080p Low, which is far beyond what most displays can even show.

At Ultra settings, the pattern continues with 162.6 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 79.8 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is 36%, the largest relative drop in the entire dataset. This indicates that the combination of high settings and 4K resolution places the heaviest load on the GPU's compute and memory subsystems. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus are adequate for this game, but the data shows that 4K Ultra is where the RTX 5060 begins to feel its limits, even though 79.8 FPS remains perfectly playable.

Interestingly, the scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is not uniform. At 1080p, Ultra is 33% slower than Low; at 1440p, it is 33% slower; at 4K, it is 35% slower. This near-constant ratio across resolutions suggests that Dave The Diver's settings menu primarily affects GPU workload in a linear fashion, without any sudden bottlenecks emerging at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, operates at a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz. These clock speeds, combined with 3840 shading units and 120 tensor cores, drive the frame rates observed in the measured data. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears sufficient for this adventure title at all tested settings.

The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 30109 places it at the 73rd percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at an identical average score of 30097 (0% delta). This parity in synthetic benchmarks translates into the real-world performance seen here, where the GPU consistently delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's 48 ROPs and 120 texture mapping units are modest by modern standards, but Dave The Diver's art style — likely not relying on heavy texture filtering or pixel-rate-intensive effects — allows the card to stretch its legs. The measured results show that the RTX 5060 can push 242.5 FPS at 1080p Low, which is a strong indicator that the card's raw rasterization throughput (19.18 TFLOPS FP32) is well-matched to this game's demands.

At 4K Ultra, the 79.8 FPS result is particularly telling. This is not a case of the GPU being overwhelmed; rather, it indicates that the game's Ultra preset introduces effects that consume memory bandwidth and shading resources without causing a catastrophic drop. The 8 GB VRAM capacity appears to be adequate, as there is no evidence of texture thrashing or stuttering in the average FPS data.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 combination ranks 786th out of 1626 tested combos in Dave The Diver. This places the pairing in the middle of the distribution, which is surprising given the high absolute frame rates achieved. The explanation lies in the fact that Dave The Diver is not a demanding title — many older or lower-end GPUs can achieve high frame rates, so the combo's relative position is compressed.

The CPU itself sits at the 89th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35684. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802, -0.3% delta) and the Intel Core i7-13700T (35468, 0.6% delta). This indicates that the i7-12700K is a strong performer in general compute tasks, which aligns with the high frame rates observed at 1080p where CPU headroom matters most.

The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking (average score 30109) is lower than the CPU's percentile, which explains why the combo's overall rank in this game is mid-pack. The RTX 5060's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, matches it exactly (0% delta), while the NVIDIA Tesla M60 is 0.5% ahead. This suggests that the RTX 5060 is a competent but not class-leading GPU, and in a game like Dave The Diver where the CPU is rarely the bottleneck, the GPU's mid-tier status drags the combo's relative ranking down.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, all settings produce frame rates above 160 FPS, so the choice between High (185.9 FPS) and Ultra (162.6 FPS) comes down to visual preference rather than playability. The 12.5% drop from High to Ultra is modest, and both are far above any practical refresh rate ceiling.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 152 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual fidelity and performance. High (135.5 FPS) and Ultra (125 FPS) remain excellent, with the latter still exceeding 120 FPS. For players with 144 Hz displays, the Medium preset provides the best headroom for maintaining a locked frame rate, while High offers a better visual experience at 135.5 FPS.

At 4K, the data reveals a more nuanced picture. Low (123.4 FPS) and Medium (106.2 FPS) are both viable for high-refresh 4K displays, while High (89.5 FPS) is suitable for 60 Hz panels. Ultra (79.8 FPS) is the only setting that dips below 80 FPS, but it remains playable. Given the 20% gap between Medium and High at 4K, the Medium preset offers the best performance-to-quality ratio for most users, as the visual difference between Medium and High is unlikely to be dramatic in this stylized adventure.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i7-12700K + RTX 5060 produces the following average frame rates: Low 242.5 FPS, Medium 205.2 FPS, High 185.9 FPS, and Ultra 162.6 FPS. All four settings exceed 160 FPS, making this resolution the most comfortable for high-refresh gaming. The jump from Ultra to Low is a 49% increase, demonstrating that the settings menu has a significant impact on GPU load even at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 187.1 FPS, Medium 152 FPS, High 135.5 FPS, and Ultra 125 FPS. The Ultra setting at 1440p still clears 120 FPS, which is notable for a mid-range GPU. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting is consistent: Low falls 23%, Medium 26%, High 27%, and Ultra 23%.

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low 123.4 FPS, Medium 106.2 FPS, High 89.5 FPS, and Ultra 79.8 FPS. This is the only resolution where any setting falls below 100 FPS, with High and Ultra both crossing that threshold. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper than from 1080p to 1440p at every setting: Low drops 34%, Medium 30%, High 34%, and Ultra 36%. This accelerating decline confirms that 4K resolution is the primary stressor for the RTX 5060, though the absolute numbers remain playable across the board.