Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an interesting case for high-end hardware analysis, as the data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a scenario where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are exceptionally high, often surpassing the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The benchmark results indicate a system that is massively overqualified for this specific title, shifting the analytical focus from raw capability to scaling efficiency and the nuances of frame time consistency.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates classic scaling behavior, but the absolute numbers reveal that the workload remains light even at 4K. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 298 FPS at 1080p to 224 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 74 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K Ultra further reduces the average to 150 FPS, another 74 FPS drop. This linear scaling suggests that while pixel count is increasing, the GPU is still operating well within its capacity.

Analyzing the High preset tells a similar story. The average frame rate decreases from 337 FPS at 1080p to 254 FPS at 1440p, a 83 FPS difference. The subsequent step to 4K High results in 170 FPS, a further 84 FPS decrease. This consistent delta of roughly 80 FPS per resolution step indicates that the rendering pipeline is scaling predictably with the number of pixels, but the starting point is so high that the game never becomes visually demanding.

The Low preset data reinforces this point. At 1080p Low, the system achieves an average of 450 FPS, which drops to 340 FPS at 1440p and 227 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at 4K with the lowest settings, the system still produces over 220 FPS shows that the RTX 4090's capabilities are not being stressed. The bottleneck analysis points away from the GPU in most scenarios. Given the CPU's high performance metrics, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a single-core score of 4958, it is plausible that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions where the frame rate targets are astronomically high.

The frame time data, where available, shows reasonable consistency. For the Medium preset at 4K, the average is 190 FPS with a minimum of 162 FPS and a maximum of 219 FPS. This 57 FPS spread indicates some variance, but the low minimum still ensures smooth gameplay. At 1080p Medium, the spread is larger, with an average of 378 FPS, a minimum of 321 FPS, and a maximum of 434 FPS. The larger spread at lower resolutions is often a sign of CPU involvement in frame pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination is placed at rank 101 out of 3710 tested combos for Dave The Diver. This places the system in the top 2.7% of all configurations, which is an exceptional result. The ranking reflects the sheer power of the RTX 4090, but the game's low requirements mean that the combination's lead over less powerful hardware might be smaller than in more demanding titles.

The CPU's individual standing is strong, with a percentile of 91 versus all CPUs, placing it in the top 9% of processors. Its average benchmark score of 53620 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6505P, which scores 53701, a negligible delta of -0.2%. It also outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which has an average score of 53288, placing the i7-14700F ahead by 0.6%. This indicates that the CPU is not a weak link in the chain.

The GPU's percentile of 88 versus all GPUs is also high, but its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are not consumer gaming cards. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 60347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60326, delta 0%) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60140, delta 0.3%). This is an artifact of the benchmark scoring methodology, as the RTX 4090's raw compute power in gaming scenarios is vastly superior to those professional cards. The ranking demonstrates that the combination is near the top of the pile, but the specific game data suggests that the rank could be even higher if the game were more demanding.

Settings Recommendations

Given the exceptionally high frame rates, the primary goal for settings selection is maximizing visual fidelity while maintaining a flawless frame rate. The data shows that the Ultra preset at 4K is the most demanding configuration, yielding an average of 150 FPS. This is still an excellent frame rate for a 4K display, and for users with high-refresh-rate 4K monitors, this is the clear choice.

For users with 1440p displays, the Ultra preset provides an average of 224 FPS, which is more than sufficient for even the fastest 240Hz monitors. The High preset at 1440p yields 254 FPS, but the visual jump to Ultra is generally more impactful than the 30 FPS difference for most users. The Low and Medium presets at this resolution, which produce 340 and 284 FPS respectively, offer no tangible benefit in terms of smoothness and sacrifice significant visual quality.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset produces 298 FPS. This is the recommended setting for competitive play, as it offers the highest visual quality while still surpassing the refresh rate of nearly all 1080p monitors. The Medium preset's 378 FPS might be attractive for esports purists, but the difference between 298 and 378 FPS is imperceptible on most displays. The Low preset's 450 FPS confirms the CPU and GPU's power but offers no practical advantage. The analysis indicates that Ultra is the best experience for this combination, as the hardware has sufficient headroom to render the game at its highest quality without dropping below the 144 FPS threshold at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Dave The Diver at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The benchmark data shows an average of 150 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, indicating a fully playable and smooth experience.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests it is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. The frame rates are so high that the CPU likely becomes the limiting factor, especially at 1080p. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is still not fully stressed, as it maintains an average of 150 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon 6505P and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. It performs essentially on par with these processors in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the difference in frame rate between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 340 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves an average of 224 FPS. The difference is 116 FPS, but both are exceptionally high.

Q: Is the frame rate stable, or are there noticeable dips?

A: At 4K Medium, the frame rate ranges from a minimum of 162 FPS to a maximum of 219 FPS. At 1080p Medium, it ranges from 321 FPS to 434 FPS. This indicates some variance, but the minimums are well above playable thresholds.

Q: What is the overall rank of this hardware combo?

A: It is ranked 101 out of 3710 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.7% of systems for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's role in Dave The Diver is to provide near-unlimited headroom. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and a 384-bit memory bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has no trouble handling the game's assets at any resolution. The high memory capacity ensures that texture loading is not a factor, even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's clock speeds of 2235 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost are relatively modest compared to its massive shader count of 16384. The architecture is clearly designed for high compute throughput, as evidenced by its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. However, in this game, the card is not being pushed to its limits. The data shows that the scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K only reduces the average frame rate from 227 FPS to 150 FPS, a 34% performance cost for maximum visual quality. This suggests that the game's rendering engine is not fully utilizing the GPU's capabilities.

The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 38194, are high, but its nearest rivals in the database are professional workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (which has a delta of -2.5%). This is a statistical anomaly. In practical gaming terms, the RTX 4090's performance in this title is defined by its ability to maintain high frame rates with significant headroom, making it a component that will not be the source of any performance limitations for years to come in this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F serves as the foundation for this system's exceptional performance. With 20 cores and 28 threads, it provides substantial multi-threaded capability, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122. More importantly for gaming, its single-core performance is elite, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2429. This strong single-thread performance is crucial for game logic and frame pacing.

At 1080p resolution, the CPU's role becomes more prominent. The fact that the system can achieve 450 FPS on the Low preset suggests that the game's engine and the CPU's processing power are the determining factors. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is working harder, the CPU's performance ensures that it can feed the GPU with enough data to maintain 150 FPS. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz allows for rapid instruction processing, which is beneficial for the game's simulation and AI routines.

The CPU is also highly efficient, with a TDP of 65 W. This is a modest power draw for a processor with this level of performance, indicating that thermal throttling is unlikely to be an issue. The processor's position in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, alongside rivals like the AMD EPYC 7313P (delta 0.8%), confirms that it is a top-tier part. In this game, the CPU's role is to ensure that the system never becomes CPU-bound in a negative way, providing a stable platform for the GPU to operate at its maximum potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all configurations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 450 FPS on Low, 378 FPS on Medium (min 321, max 434), 337 FPS on High, and 298 FPS on Ultra. The progression shows a 152 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 340 FPS on Low, 284 FPS on Medium (min 242, max 327), 254 FPS on High, and 224 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 116 FPS. When comparing the same presets across resolutions, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 110 FPS for Low, 94 FPS for Medium, 83 FPS for High, and 74 FPS for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 227 FPS on Low, 190 FPS on Medium (min 162, max 219), 170 FPS on High, and 150 FPS on Ultra. The total performance cost from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra is a massive 300 FPS, but the final result of 150 FPS is still a very high frame rate. The data shows that the system is capable of delivering a playable experience at any combination of settings and resolution, with the lowest recorded average being 150 FPS at 4K Ultra. This consistency in high performance is the defining characteristic of this hardware pairing.