Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i7-12700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

Dave The Diver presents an unusual scaling profile for this flagship pairing. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, is dramatically overprovisioned for a game of this visual complexity. The measured frame rates across all resolutions exceed 150 FPS even at Ultra settings, which indicates the rendering workload is light enough that the GPU never approaches its saturation point. Instead, the data reveals a system where CPU-bound behavior dominates at lower resolutions, while the GPU begins to assert influence only as pixel count climbs. This combination ranks 66th out of 3,710 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.8% of all configurations, yet the game's modest demands mean the ranking reflects raw hardware capability rather than any particularly demanding optimization challenge.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K follows a clear pattern that shifts the bottleneck between components. At 1080p Low, the system produces 423 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 233 FPS — a reduction of 190 FPS, or roughly 45% of the 1080p figure. This is a substantial scaling loss, but it is not the dramatic collapse one might expect from a GPU-limited title. The 1080p Low result of 423 FPS is so high that it likely approaches the CPU's frame delivery ceiling, meaning the i7-12700K's 12 cores and 20 threads are the limiting factor at that resolution. As resolution increases to 1440p, the Low preset still delivers 348 FPS, which remains extremely high and suggests the CPU continues to constrain performance. Only at 4K does the RTX 5090's workload become significant enough to pull average FPS down to 233 — still far above any display refresh rate.

The Medium preset reveals the most complete data, with min and max FPS recorded at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 387 FPS with a minimum of 329 FPS and maximum of 445 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 291 FPS with a minimum of 247 FPS and maximum of 335 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 195 FPS with a minimum of 166 FPS and maximum of 224 FPS. The min-to-max spread at 1080p is 116 FPS, which narrows to 88 FPS at 1440p and then to 58 FPS at 4K. This tightening spread indicates that as resolution increases, the frame time consistency improves relative to the average — the GPU's more substantial workload creates a steadier frame pacing, while at 1080p the CPU's variability introduces larger swings.

Ultra settings show the most pronounced resolution scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 305 FPS; at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 229 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it reaches 154 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24.9%, and from 1440p to 4K is 32.8%. This accelerating decline suggests that at Ultra settings, the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at 4K, whereas at 1080p the CPU still holds significant influence. The overall pattern across all presets indicates a system where the CPU governs performance at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU only taking over as the dominant limiter at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake-S processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core provide substantial on-die storage for game data. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19,784 and a single-core score of 1,850.5, with a Geekbench multicore score of 15,790 and single-core score of 2,308. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9,276 and single-thread score of 1,043 indicate balanced multi-threaded and single-threaded performance. The CPU sits at the 84th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 35,287.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is evident from the resolution scaling data. At 1080p Low, the 423 FPS result is likely near the maximum frame rate this processor can feed to the GPU, regardless of how powerful the RTX 5090 is. The game's genre — Adventure — typically involves moderate physics, AI, and game logic that can be handled by a few cores, but the high thread count ensures no single core becomes a bottleneck. The 20 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks, but the game's frame rate at 1080p suggests it may be limited by the CPU's single-thread performance or inter-core communication latency rather than raw throughput.

The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is critical for this game's high frame rates. At 1080p, where the GPU is idle relative to its capability, the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and update game state becomes the determining factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,850.5 indicate strong per-core performance, which translates to high FPS ceilings in CPU-bound scenarios. The i7-12700K's 84th percentile ranking places it above the majority of CPUs, but its nearest rivals — the Core i5-13600T with a delta of -0.1%, the Core i7-12700KF at -0.2%, and the Core i7-13700T at -0.3% — show that this chip is tightly clustered with comparable processors, meaning the specific CPU choice has minimal impact on frame rates in this game compared to the GPU's overwhelming headroom.

FAQ

Q: Why does the RTX 5090 produce over 400 FPS at 1080p Low but only 233 FPS at 4K Low?

A: The 1080p Low result of 423 FPS is constrained by the CPU's frame delivery capability, while the 4K Low result of 233 FPS reflects the GPU's increased pixel workload. The 190 FPS difference represents the transition from a CPU-bound scenario to a more balanced state where the RTX 5090's 32 GB GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are actively engaged.

Q: Is this CPU sufficient for the RTX 5090 in Dave The Diver?

A: The data indicates the i7-12700K is the limiting factor at 1080p and 1440p, where its 12 cores and 20 threads cap frame rates around 423 FPS at Low settings. At 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes the constraint with 154 FPS, suggesting the CPU does not hold back performance at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: At 1440p Medium, the system delivers 291 FPS average with a minimum of 247 FPS, which provides a high refresh rate experience with a 44 FPS margin above the 1080p Ultra average of 305 FPS. The 4K Medium result of 195 FPS still exceeds typical high-refresh displays, making 4K viable.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's memory configuration affect this game?

A: The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth vastly exceeds Dave The Diver's requirements. Even at 4K Ultra, the game does not stress memory capacity, as evidenced by no min FPS drop below 166 FPS at 4K Medium.

Q: Why does the min FPS at 4K Medium (166) represent only a 14.9% drop from the average (195)?

A: The relatively tight min-to-average ratio indicates consistent frame pacing at 4K, where the GPU's sustained workload prevents the sudden frame time spikes that occur at lower resolutions where the CPU introduces variability.

Q: Does the CPU's 84th percentile ranking matter for this game?

A: The ranking reflects general processing power, but in Dave The Diver, the CPU's impact is only visible at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's 154 FPS result suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor, so its percentile ranking becomes less relevant.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system produces its highest frame rates. Low settings yield an average of 423 FPS, Medium produces 387 FPS with a minimum of 329 FPS and maximum of 445 FPS, High reaches 345 FPS, and Ultra drops to 305 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 118 FPS, which represents a 27.9% reduction in average frame rate. The Medium preset's min FPS of 329 FPS is notably high, indicating that even in the most demanding scenes at this resolution, the system maintains a frame rate above what most high-refresh monitors can display.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 348 FPS, Medium averages 291 FPS with a minimum of 247 FPS and maximum of 335 FPS, High reaches 260 FPS, and Ultra drops to 229 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with Low dropping by 75 FPS, Medium by 96 FPS, High by 85 FPS, and Ultra by 76 FPS. This uniform drop of roughly 20-25% indicates that the resolution increase imposes a similar relative cost regardless of settings, suggesting the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth are being utilized proportionally.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 233 FPS, Medium averages 195 FPS with a minimum of 166 FPS and maximum of 224 FPS, High reaches 174 FPS, and Ultra drops to 154 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K produces a more substantial drop than from 1080p to 1440p — Low drops by 115 FPS, Medium by 96 FPS, High by 86 FPS, and Ultra by 75 FPS. This pattern shows that the 4K pixel count (roughly 2.25 times 1440p) imposes a near-proportional cost at Low settings, but the Ultra preset's smaller absolute drop suggests the GPU's efficiency at higher settings partially mitigates the resolution penalty.

The Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data across all resolutions, making it the most diagnostically useful. At 1080p, the 329-445 FPS range represents a 35.3% swing from min to max; at 1440p, the 247-335 FPS range is a 35.6% swing; and at 4K, the 166-224 FPS range is a 34.9% swing. The consistency of this relative spread across resolutions indicates that the frame time variability scales proportionally with the average frame rate, suggesting a stable performance profile rather than any resolution-specific instability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its base clock of 2017 MHz boosts to 2407 MHz, and the 32 GB GDDR7 memory operates across a 512-bit bus at 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The GPU's FP32 throughput of 104.8 TFLOPS represents an enormous computational resource, yet Dave The Diver's measured frame rates indicate the game does not come close to utilizing this capability. At 4K Ultra, the 154 FPS average suggests the GPU is working, but it is far from its theoretical limit — the memory bandwidth alone could theoretically sustain far higher frame rates at this resolution.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all tested GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79,842, places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database — the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB with a delta of 0.3%, the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 0.6%, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT at 1.1% — are all within 1.1% of its average score, though these comparisons are based on synthetic workloads that differ significantly from Dave The Diver's rendering demands. The RTX 5090's 32 GB memory capacity is far beyond what this game needs; at 4K Medium, the min FPS of 166 FPS demonstrates that memory capacity is not a constraint.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced at 4K Ultra, where the 154 FPS result is 36% lower than the 4K Low result of 233 FPS. This 79 FPS drop from Low to Ultra at 4K indicates that the increased shading complexity, texture filtering, and post-processing effects of the Ultra preset do engage the GPU's computational resources. However, even at this maximum load, the GPU maintains frame rates that would max out most displays, leaving significant headroom for future games or more demanding scenes. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s provide the theoretical foundation for these high frame rates, but the game's actual workload is modest enough that the GPU's 680 tensor cores and 170 RT cores are likely idle or lightly utilized.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data across all resolutions and settings reveals that the Ultra preset provides the most visually demanding experience while still maintaining frame rates above 150 FPS at 4K. At 1080p Ultra, the 305 FPS average is only 28% below the Low preset's 423 FPS, yet it delivers the highest visual quality. The 4K Ultra result of 154 FPS remains above the 144 Hz threshold common on high-end monitors, making it a viable choice for the highest resolution displays. The Ultra preset at 4K offers a 79 FPS reduction from Low, which is a meaningful cost, but the absolute frame rate is still far above what most users would perceive as smooth.

The High preset offers a middle ground. At 1440p High, the 260 FPS average represents a 25% reduction from Low's 348 FPS, while providing better visual fidelity than Medium. At 4K High, the 174 FPS average is 20 FPS higher than Ultra's 154 FPS, which could be significant for users with 165 Hz or 175 Hz displays. The High preset at 4K delivers a 12.9% improvement over Ultra while sacrificing some visual quality, making it the optimal choice for users prioritizing frame rate consistency at 4K.

The Medium preset provides the most stable frame pacing, as evidenced by the complete min/max data available. At 1440p Medium, the 291 FPS average with a 247 FPS minimum ensures that even in the most demanding moments, the frame rate stays above the refresh rate of virtually any monitor. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 195 FPS average and 166 FPS minimum, offers a guaranteed smooth experience on 144 Hz displays while consuming fewer GPU resources than High or Ultra. For users with variable refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset's tight frame pacing minimizes the risk of visible stutter.

The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (423 FPS at 1080p, 348 FPS at 1440p, 233 FPS at 4K), offers no practical benefit for most users since even the Ultra preset at 4K exceeds common display refresh rates. The Low preset's only advantage is reduced GPU load, which could lower power consumption, but the data shows no frame rate instability at higher presets that would justify this trade-off. The recommended settings are Ultra at 1080p or 1440p, or High at 4K, with Medium as a fallback for users with very high refresh rate displays (240 Hz or above) who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 achieves a rank of 66 out of 3,710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 1.8% of all configurations tested. This ranking reflects the raw hardware capability of both components, but the game's modest demands mean that many less powerful combinations would produce nearly identical frame rates. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking and the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking both contribute to this high combo position, yet the data suggests that the GPU's contribution to the ranking is more significant than the CPU's, given that the game becomes GPU-bound only at 4K Ultra.

The combo's 66th place out of 3,710 indicates that there are 65 other combinations that perform better in this game, likely featuring either faster CPUs with higher single-thread performance or more optimized CPU-GPU pairings. However, the delta between this combo and the top performers is likely minimal, given that the i7-12700K's nearest CPU rivals are within 0.4% of its average benchmark score, and the RTX 5090's nearest GPU rivals are within 1.4% of its score. The ranking position is therefore more a function of the absolute performance ceiling of these components rather than any specific optimization for Dave The Diver.

In the context of the full database, this combo's rank of 66 places it among the elite configurations, but the measured FPS data reveals that the game does not stress either component to its limits. At 1080p, the system produces frame rates that no display can fully utilize, and even at 4K Ultra, the 154 FPS average exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The ranking, therefore, reflects the theoretical capability of the hardware rather than any game-specific challenge, and users with this combination can expect maximum settings and high resolutions to deliver exceptionally smooth performance in Dave The Diver, with the primary constraint being the display's refresh rate rather than the hardware's capability.