Dave The Diver

Dave the Diver may look like a modest pixel-art adventure, but the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combo reveals a machine that crushes this title with extraordinary headroom. The measured frame rates are so high across every resolution that the hardware is rarely, if ever, the bottleneck, making this pairing more about raw capacity than near-limit performance. This analysis examines how the CPU's 20 cores and the GPU's 12 GB of VRAM translate into the specific FPS numbers recorded, and what those numbers mean for a player pushing this game to its absolute limits.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its configuration includes a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 33 MB shared L3 cache. In synthetic workloads, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a single-core score of 4958, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs tested. Its average benchmark score of 53620 sits just 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which scores 53288, and 0.8% above the AMD EPYC 7313P at 53206. This places the i7-14700F in a performance tier where its multi-threaded capabilities are essentially on par with those high-end rivals, differing by less than one percent.

For a game like Dave the Diver, the CPU's role is not about rendering complex 3D scenes but managing game logic, physics for underwater interactions, and ensuring a stable frame pacing. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 355 FPS average. This figure is so high that it suggests the game's engine is being pushed to its limits, and the CPU's strong single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958) is likely the primary enabler for maintaining such high frame rates. The data indicates that even at this extreme, the i7-14700F is not a limiting factor; the 5.40 GHz boost clock is more than sufficient to feed the GPU with draw calls.

The CPU's multi-core strength becomes relevant in ensuring consistent minimums. While the data only provides min FPS for Medium settings, the pattern is clear. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 127, which is a 15% drop from the average of 150. This stability across 20 cores means that background tasks or complex game events do not cause stutters. The CPU's Passmark multithread score of 41317, which is 0.3% higher than the Intel Xeon Phi 7290's 53469 average, confirms its ability to handle any background workload without compromising the game's frame delivery. The architecture's 80 KB L1 and 2 MB L2 cache per core also help reduce latency for single-threaded game logic.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: How much faster is the i7-14700F at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Low is 355, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 118. This represents a 200% increase in frame rate when lowering both resolution and settings, showing how the GPU becomes more of a factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 SUPER's performance closer to the RTX 4090 Mobile or the Quadro M6000?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 43223. The nearest rival, the RTX 4090 Mobile, has a score of 43667, which is 1% higher. In contrast, the Quadro M6000 scores 43301, which is 0.2% higher. The RTX 4070 SUPER is thus significantly closer to the Quadro M6000 in synthetic benchmarks, with a delta of -0.2%, than to the RTX 4090 Mobile's -1% delta.

Q: What is the FPS penalty for using Ultra settings instead of High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 200 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 176 FPS. This is a 12% reduction in average frame rate for the highest visual quality, which is a relatively modest cost given the high baseline.

Q: Does the CPU's performance exceed that of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has a score of 53288. The i7-14700F is 0.6% higher, meaning it is technically faster in this aggregated metric, though the difference is marginal and within statistical noise.

Q: At what resolution does the frame rate drop below 240 FPS on High settings?

A: At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves 265 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 200 FPS. Therefore, the drop below 240 FPS occurs when moving from 1080p to 1440p, specifically at the 1440p resolution.

Q: How much VRAM is available on this GPU, and does the game's data suggest it is a limitation?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth. Given that the game achieves a 134 FPS average at 4K High and 118 FPS at 4K Ultra, the data suggests that VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck, as frame rates remain high even at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales with resolution. At 1080p High, the system averages 265 FPS. Moving to 1440p High reduces this to 200 FPS, a 24.5% drop. Moving from 1440p to 4K High yields a further reduction to 134 FPS, a 33% drop from 1440p. The total scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings is a 49.4% reduction in average FPS (from 265 to 134). This steep decline is characteristic of a game that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as pixel count rises.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU or engine-limited. The 265 FPS at High and 355 FPS at Low show that the GPU has massive headroom, and the limiting factor is likely the game's render thread or the CPU's ability to issue commands. This is corroborated by the CPU's high single-core performance, which is necessary to push frame rates past the 300 FPS mark. At 4K, the situation reverses. The FPS drops to 134 at High and 118 at Ultra, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are now the primary constraints. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily.

The scaling pattern also reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (355 FPS) and Ultra (234 FPS) is 121 FPS. At 4K, the difference between Low (179 FPS) and Ultra (118 FPS) is 61 FPS. This indicates that while the absolute frame rates drop, the relative cost of Ultra settings becomes slightly less severe at 4K, likely because the GPU is already saturated with pixel work, making the additional shading cost of Ultra less impactful on the frame time.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers extraordinary performance across all presets. The Low setting achieves an average of 355 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 297 FPS, with a minimum of 253 and a maximum of 342, showing tight frame pacing. High settings average 265 FPS, and Ultra settings average 234 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 121 FPS, meaning that even the most demanding preset at 1080p runs at more than four times the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz monitor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings average 267 FPS, Medium averages 224 FPS (min 190, max 257), High averages 200 FPS, and Ultra averages 176 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 25% of the frame rate at each setting level. For example, 1080p High is 265 FPS, and 1440p High is 200 FPS. This resolution still offers a comfortable margin above 144 Hz refresh rates, even with Ultra settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still strong but begins to show the GPU's limits. Low settings average 179 FPS, Medium averages 150 FPS (min 127, max 172), High averages 134 FPS, and Ultra averages 118 FPS. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 127, which is still above 120 FPS, indicating that the combo can hold high refresh rates at 4K with medium settings. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced, with a 33% reduction at High settings, confirming that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are the primary factors in this resolution tier.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 602nd out of 3710 tested combos in Dave the Diver. This places it in the top 16.2% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank of 602 is not a reflection of poor performance, but rather evidence of the sheer number of high-end systems that have been benchmarked. Given that this combo achieves 118 FPS at 4K Ultra, the ranking suggests that many combos with more powerful GPUs (such as the RTX 4090 series) or higher-end CPUs can achieve even higher frame rates, pushing this combo down the list.

The data implies that the combo is not the absolute top-tier for this game, but it is far from being a bottleneck. The 91st percentile CPU and 83rd percentile GPU rankings indicate that this is a high-end pairing. The 602nd rank out of 3710 means it outperforms 83.8% of all tested combinations. This is a strong showing, particularly for a game that is not graphically demanding by modern standards. The rank suggests that while the hardware is overkill for this title, it places the system in a position where it can run the game at maximum settings with high frame rates at any resolution, a feat that many lower-ranked combos cannot achieve.

The rank also highlights the diminishing returns of higher-end hardware in this specific game. The difference between this combo (rank 602) and a hypothetical top-10 combo is likely to be less than 10% in actual FPS, given the high frame rates already achieved. The benchmark results indicate that the i7-14700F + RTX 4070 SUPER is a balanced pairing that offers no significant weakness, as the CPU and GPU are well-matched for this workload, with neither component consistently holding the other back.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured data, the Medium settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium averages 297 FPS with a minimum of 253 FPS, ensuring that even the most demanding scenes do not drop below 240 FPS, which is a common target for high-refresh-rate gaming. At 1440p, Medium averages 224 FPS (min 190), which is still exceptionally smooth. At 4K, Medium averages 150 FPS (min 127), which is above the 120 FPS threshold for many high-refresh-rate 4K displays. This consistency across resolutions makes Medium the safest choice for maintaining a high and stable frame rate.

For players with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor, the High preset is also viable. At 1080p, High averages 265 FPS, and at 1440p, it averages 200 FPS, both well above 165 Hz. At 4K, High averages 134 FPS, which is close to but not always above a 144 Hz refresh rate. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest visual fidelity, only provides a 12% FPS penalty over High at 1440p (176 vs 200 FPS) but a 12% penalty at 4K (118 vs 134 FPS). Given that Ultra is the best-looking option and still provides 118 FPS at 4K, it is recommended for players who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate, provided they have a G-Sync or FreeSync display to smooth out any frame pacing issues.

The Low preset is unnecessary for this hardware. It offers the highest frame rates (355 FPS at 1080p) but sacrifices visual quality that the RTX 4070 SUPER can easily handle. The data suggests that the best experience is either Medium for maximum stability or Ultra for maximum visual fidelity, depending on the player's preference for frame rates versus graphical detail.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. Its base clock is 1980 MHz, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This configuration results in a Passmark G3D score of 29995, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 43223 is only 1% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile, which scores 43667.

In Dave the Diver, the GPU's role is primarily to handle the game's 2D/3D hybrid rendering, which includes dynamic lighting, particle effects for underwater environments, and high-resolution textures. The 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 4K Ultra (118 FPS). The GPU's 198.0 GPixel/s pixel rate is a key factor in achieving these high resolutions, as it dictates how quickly pixels can be drawn. The 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power further ensures that complex shaders and effects are processed without delay.

The boost clock of 2475 MHz is crucial for maintaining high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is often underutilized, as the frame rate is likely capped by the CPU or game engine. However, at 4K, the GPU's clock speed and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for the game's texture streaming, but the 134 FPS at 4K High suggests that the GPU is nearing its performance ceiling. The GPU's end-of-life production status and its position as a predecessor to the GeForce 50 series do not detract from its current performance, which is more than adequate for this title.