Dave The Diver

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2922 out of 3710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the lower half of the database’s combination rankings for this title. This is a pairing of a high-end 16-core CPU with a decidedly older mid-range GPU, and the measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reflect that imbalance. The data shows a system that can deliver smooth, high-refresh gameplay at 1080p and even respectable 4K performance, but the ceiling of the experience is dictated almost entirely by the RTX 2060’s capabilities rather than the i7-13700K’s substantial processing headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s position of 2922 out of 3710 (roughly the 21st percentile of tested pairings) might look alarming at first glance, but context matters. Dave The Diver is an adventure title with relatively modest graphical demands compared to AAA shooters or simulators. The rank reflects the sheer number of combinations tested in the database — many of which pair newer, faster GPUs with equally strong CPUs. Against that field, this combo sits in the lower third, but the actual measured performance tells a more nuanced story than the raw rank suggests.

Looking at the CPU alone, the Core i7-13700K holds an 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (46971, -0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (47022, -0.3% delta), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (46654, +0.5% delta), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (46653, +0.5% delta). These deltas are all within half a percent, meaning the i7-13700K is statistically tied with a cluster of strong processors from both AMD and Intel. The 16 cores, 24 threads, and boost clock of 5.40 GHz put it in elite company for synthetic workloads.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. The RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15290. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (15283, 0% delta), the AMD Radeon 680M (15270, +0.1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (15199, +0.6% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15171, +0.8% delta). These are all older or lower-tier cards, and the RTX 2060’s score of 15290 is a fraction of what the CPU produces in its own benchmarks. In Dave The Diver specifically, the combo rank of 2922 reflects that this GPU is the limiting factor; the i7-13700K could easily drive a much more powerful graphics card without breaking a sweat.

What the rank obscures is that this combination still delivers playable performance in absolute terms. The measured FPS data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the combo averages 59 FPS, which is technically playable but right at the edge of smoothness. The rank is a relative measure against thousands of other pairings, many of which use GPUs with 8 GB or more of VRAM and significantly higher fill rates. For a game like Dave The Diver, which is not a demanding title by modern standards, the practical takeaway is that this combo is far more capable than its percentile suggests.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1920x1080, the combo produces 178 FPS on Low, 149 FPS on Medium, 133 FPS on High, and 117 FPS on Ultra. All four presets are well above the 60 FPS threshold, and even the lowest result — 117 FPS on Ultra — is more than sufficient for a smooth experience on a standard 60 Hz monitor or a mid-range 144 Hz panel. The jump from Low to Medium costs 29 FPS (178 to 149), while Medium to High costs another 16 FPS (149 to 133), and High to Ultra costs 16 FPS as well (133 to 117). The visual gains from High to Ultra in a game like this are typically subtle, so the 117 FPS on Ultra is still entirely viable.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts slightly. Low produces 134 FPS, Medium 112 FPS, High 100 FPS, and Ultra 88 FPS. Again, all presets exceed 60 FPS, and the difference between High and Ultra is just 12 FPS (100 to 88). For a 1440p monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate, High is the sweet spot — it stays above 100 FPS while offering most of the visual fidelity of Ultra. The measured minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 95, with a maximum of 129, so even the dips stay well within playable territory.

At 3840x2160, the landscape changes. Low delivers 90 FPS, Medium 75 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 59 FPS. Here, the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus start to show their age. Ultra at 4K is right at the 60 FPS line, which means any demanding scene could push it below playable. The Medium preset, with a measured minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 86, offers the safest experience at 4K — it stays above 60 FPS even in the worst-case frame dips recorded. For most users, the recommendation is clear: at 1080p or 1440p, use High or Ultra depending on your refresh rate; at 4K, stick with Medium to keep frame times consistent.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is High at 2560x1440 — it delivers 100 FPS average, which is smooth on high-refresh displays, while maintaining enough visual detail to appreciate the game’s art style. If you prioritize maximum fidelity and have a 60 Hz 4K display, Medium at 4K is the pragmatic choice, as it keeps the minimum above 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload scales and which component is the bottleneck. At High settings, the combo produces 133 FPS at 1920x1080, 100 FPS at 2560x1440, and 67 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 33 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p (a 25% reduction) and another 33 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K (a 33% reduction). The total decline from 1080p to 4K is 66 FPS, or roughly 50% of the original frame rate.

This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior. When resolution increases, the number of pixels quadruples from 1080p to 4K (roughly 2.07 million to 8.29 million), and the GPU must process each pixel with the same shading, texture, and rasterization work. The RTX 2060’s FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are simply not enough to maintain the same frame rate at 4K as at 1080p. The CPU, by contrast, is barely taxed by resolution changes — the i7-13700K’s 16 cores and 24 threads are more than adequate to feed the GPU at any resolution.

The fact that the combo still manages 67 FPS at 4K High confirms Dave The Diver’s relatively light rendering load. A more demanding title would likely see the 4K frame rate drop below 30 FPS with this GPU. The 59 FPS at 4K Ultra further confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor — the CPU is sitting idle waiting for the graphics card to finish each frame. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across resolutions, with the FPS ceiling set by the i7-13700K’s single-thread performance (1136 in 3dmark_single_thread, 2116 in Cinebench R23 single-core). Instead, the frame rate scales almost linearly with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited system.

The measured data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, Low produces 178 FPS and Ultra 117 FPS — a 61 FPS spread. At 4K, Low produces 90 FPS and Ultra 59 FPS — a 31 FPS spread. This narrowing suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel count. The 6 GB VRAM may also play a role, as higher resolutions and settings can exceed that capacity, causing texture streaming or asset swaps that reduce frame rates further.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Dave The Diver at 4K?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The measured data shows 67 FPS average at 4K High and 59 FPS at 4K Ultra. For a stable experience, the Medium preset at 4K is recommended, as it produces 75 FPS average with a minimum of 64 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays above 60 during demanding scenes.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combination?

A: The data indicates 2560x1440 on High settings offers the best balance, with 100 FPS average and no measured minimum below 60 FPS. At 1080p, all presets exceed 117 FPS, so the choice depends on your display’s refresh rate. At 4K, Medium is the safest option.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, which is virtually identical to the GTX 580 (15283, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon 680M (15270, +0.1% delta). It is slightly ahead of the RTX 3050 OEM (15199, +0.6% delta) and the RX 7600 (15171, +0.8% delta). These are all within 1% of each other.

Q: Will the i7-13700K bottleneck the RTX 2060?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmark scores are far above the GPU’s — for example, the i7-13700K scores 30745 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2529 in Geekbench single-core. The measured FPS scaling with resolution confirms the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I can expect at 1440p with this combo?

A: The only measured minimum FPS at 1440p is for the Medium preset, which shows a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. For other presets, the data does not include minimum FPS values, but the averages are 134 (Low), 100 (High), and 88 (Ultra).

Q: Does the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM cause issues in this game?

A: The measured data shows no direct evidence of VRAM-related stuttering, as the minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 64. However, the 6 GB capacity on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is modest by modern standards, and the narrowing FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K suggests the GPU is heavily stressed at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the primary determinant of this combo’s performance in Dave The Diver. Its specifications — 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth — are modest for a card released in the Turing generation. The GPU’s boost clock of 1680 MHz and base clock of 1365 MHz are typical for the era, and the 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs provide the raw compute needed for rasterization. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS is the key metric for traditional game rendering, and it is this figure that limits the frame rate at higher resolutions.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s influence is unmistakable. At 1080p, the combo delivers 178 FPS on Low, which is high enough to saturate a 144 Hz monitor. At 4K, the same Low preset drops to 90 FPS — a 49% reduction. This is not because the game becomes more CPU-intensive at 4K; rather, the RTX 2060 must work four times as hard to fill those pixels. The 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game’s textures at most settings, but the memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s is likely a contributing factor to the frame rate scaling.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 15290 places it at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all older or lower-tier parts. The GTX 580, a card from 2010, scores nearly identically (15283, 0% delta), which highlights how much the GPU landscape has changed. The RTX 2060’s 58th percentile ranking means it is outclassed by roughly 42% of the GPUs in the database, but for a game like Dave The Diver, that is rarely a problem — the measured frame rates are still well above playable thresholds at every resolution except 4K Ultra.

At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 59 FPS, which is exactly at the 60 FPS target but leaves no headroom. The 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores — features that are irrelevant for this non-ray-traced title — do not help here. What matters is the raw fill rate: 80.64 GPixel/s pixel rate and 201.6 GTexel/s texture rate. These figures determine how quickly the GPU can process the geometry and textures in each frame, and at 4K, they are simply not sufficient to maintain 60 FPS with all settings maxed out.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is an overqualified partner for the RTX 2060 in this game. With 16 cores, 24 threads, a base clock of 3.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, the CPU offers far more processing power than Dave The Diver requires. Its benchmark scores are dominant: 30745 in Cinebench R23 multicore, 19429 in Geekbench multicore, and 45887 in Passmark multithread. Even its single-thread performance — 2116 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 4333 in Passmark single-thread — is more than enough to handle the game’s logic, AI, and physics.

The 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46881, places it in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rivals — the Ryzen 9 5900, Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375, Ryzen 9 7845HX, and Xeon w3-2535 — are all within 0.5% of its score, meaning the i7-13700K is competing with the best that AMD and Intel have to offer. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast storage for game data, and the DDR4/DDR5 memory support means it can be paired with either memory type without issue.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role is to keep the GPU fed. The measured FPS data shows that the combo’s performance scales with resolution exactly as a GPU-bound system would — the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. If the i7-13700K were the bottleneck, we would see similar frame rates at 1080p and 4K, which is not the case. The 178 FPS at 1080p Low is likely close to the game’s engine limit or the GPU’s maximum output at that resolution, not a CPU constraint.

The practical implication is that this CPU has massive headroom for future GPU upgrades. If the user were to replace the RTX 2060 with a more powerful card, the i7-13700K would not hold back performance in this game. Its 16 cores and 24 threads are also overkill for a title like Dave The Diver, which likely uses only a handful of threads, but that is not a negative — it simply means the CPU runs at a fraction of its capacity, producing less heat and noise. The 125 W TDP is manageable with a capable air cooler, and the unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking if the user ever needs more performance. For this specific game, the CPU is a non-factor — it is the GPU that determines whether you get 59 FPS or 178 FPS.