Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a demanding title by modern standards, but the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing shows clear performance limits that shift depending on where you point the resolution dial. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at 4K, but transitions to a more balanced state at 1440p and 1080p, where the CPU’s substantial core count begins to matter more. The benchmark results indicate that this combo is a solid 1080p and 1440p machine for this game, with 4K being playable but requiring a settings compromise.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings presets, confirming that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 128.1 FPS at 1080p to 94.9 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 66.4 FPS at 4K. That is a 48% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a clear indicator that the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth are being saturated by the increased pixel count.

The scaling pattern is consistent across other presets. At High settings, the drop from 144.3 FPS (1080p) to 110.5 FPS (1440p) to 72.3 FPS (4K) shows a similar curve. Even at Low settings, where the GPU load is lighter, the frame rate still drops from 193.1 FPS at 1080p to 150.2 FPS at 1440p, and down to 99.7 FPS at 4K. This consistent scaling across all presets strongly suggests that the limiting component at 4K is the GPU itself. The gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is the classic signature of a GPU that is running out of pixel-pushing power. The data shows that for smooth 4K gameplay, you will need to accept a significant frame rate hit, while 1440p offers a much better balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance, and the optimal preset depends entirely on your target resolution and refresh rate. For 4K, the choice is between High (72.3 FPS) and Medium (81.6 FPS), with Ultra (66.4 FPS) being the only option that dips below the 70 FPS threshold. If you have a 60 Hz 4K display, High settings are the sweet spot, delivering a smooth experience without sacrificing too much visual quality. Dropping to Medium buys you an extra 9.3 FPS, which might be worth it if you want more headroom for demanding scenes.

At 1440p, the situation is much more comfortable. High settings (110.5 FPS) and Medium (120.3 FPS) both provide excellent frame rates that exceed 100 FPS. Ultra (94.9 FPS) is also fully playable, making it a viable choice for those who prioritize image quality. The data suggests that 1440p Ultra is the best overall experience on this hardware, as it delivers near-100 FPS while using the highest preset. For 1080p, even Ultra (128.1 FPS) is well above 120 FPS, so there is no real reason to drop below High (144.3 FPS) unless you have a 165 Hz or 240 Hz monitor and want to chase maximum frame rates. The Low preset (193.1 FPS) is only useful for competitive play on a high-refresh display, as the visual trade-off is significant for a game that is not a fast-paced shooter.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the defining component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the 4K performance ceiling. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. This configuration yields a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is ample for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The GPU’s compute power, measured at 7.181 TFLOPS FP32, is sufficient for Dave The Diver’s art style, but the 4K results show that it is being pushed to its limits.

The benchmark results for the GPU place it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (deltaPct 0.3), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (deltaPct 0.5), and the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (deltaPct 0.8). This places the RTX 2060 SUPER in a performance class that is competitive with the RTX 2070, which is notable given its lower TDP of 175 W. In Dave The Diver, the GPU’s role is clear: it delivers excellent 1080p and good 1440p performance, but its 8 GB memory buffer and 256-bit bus are the main reasons why 4K Ultra (66.4 FPS) falls short of 70 FPS. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary component to upgrade if you want to push higher frame rates at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested CPU and GPU combinations for Dave The Diver, this specific pairing ranks 1189 out of 1626 combos. This places it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which may seem surprising given the strong individual components. However, this ranking reflects the fact that Dave The Diver is not a demanding game, and many other combos with less powerful CPUs but newer or higher-end GPUs will achieve higher frame rates. The combo’s rank is not a reflection of poor performance, but rather an indication that the RTX 2060 SUPER is a mid-range GPU that is outclassed by many newer options.

The rank of 1189 means that there are 437 combos that perform worse, and 1188 that perform better. This places the combo in a position where it is clearly capable of playing the game well, but it is not competitive with top-tier hardware. For a builder, this ranking is a reminder that this is a balanced mid-range setup, not a high-end one. The data shows that the combo is more than sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but it will not top any leaderboards for 4K performance. The ranking also highlights that the CPU is not the limiting factor; a GPU upgrade would likely move this combo significantly up the list.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This is a powerful CPU for gaming, and its benchmark results reflect that. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 35443, while the single-core score is 5003, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (deltaPct -0.6), the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (deltaPct -1.1), and the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (deltaPct 1.2). This means the i7-14700F is virtually tied with the Ryzen 9 9900X in synthetic benchmarks, which is a strong indicator of its capabilities.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU, but it still matters. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are high enough that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The jump from 193.1 FPS (Low) to 144.3 FPS (High) is driven by the GPU, not the CPU. However, the 20 cores and 28 threads ensure that there is no stuttering or frame-time issues, even when the game is loading assets or managing background tasks. The CPU’s 33 MB of shared L3 cache is also beneficial for game logic. The data suggests that the i7-14700F provides a stable foundation, and any performance differences between settings are almost entirely attributable to the GPU. For this game, the CPU is a non-issue; it is more than capable of keeping up with the RTX 2060 SUPER.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a wide range of frame rates depending on the preset. The Low preset produces an average of 193.1 FPS, which is exceptionally high and indicates that the game is not taxing the GPU at all. Medium settings drop this to 165.9 FPS, and High settings to 144.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is still very playable at 128.1 FPS. These numbers show that 1080p is a very comfortable resolution for this combo, with even the most demanding preset staying well above 120 FPS.

Moving to 1440p, the performance remains strong but the GPU starts to work harder. Low settings yield 150.2 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings produce 120.3 FPS, and High settings 110.5 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 94.9 FPS, which is just below the 100 FPS mark but still smooth for most players. The data shows a consistent drop of roughly 20-25% from 1080p to 1440p across all presets, which is a typical result for a GPU of this class.

At 4K, the performance drops significantly, and the GPU’s limitations become apparent. Low settings are the only preset that stays above 90 FPS, with an average of 99.7 FPS. Medium settings produce 81.6 FPS, High settings 72.3 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 66.4 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips below 70 FPS, which is a key consideration for 4K gamers. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 33.3 FPS, which is the largest spread across all resolutions, further confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K. The data indicates that for a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, High settings are the maximum you can use, while for 1440p, Ultra is perfectly viable.