Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is a 2D adventure title that rarely stresses high-end hardware, but the measured results for the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the Intel Arc B390 show a clear pattern: this combo is playable at 1080p, acceptable at 1440p, and struggling at 4K. The data indicates that the Arc B390, an integrated GPU with a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, is the bottleneck in nearly every scenario, while the i7-14700K, which sits at the 94th percentile among all CPUs, has more than enough headroom. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS across three resolutions and four settings presets, explains what the scaling tells us about the limiting component, and offers practical settings advice based strictly on the numbers provided.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all four settings presets, which points directly at the GPU as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 108 FPS at 1920x1080 to 82 FPS at 2560x1440, and then down to 55 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 24% reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 33% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The Arc B390 simply does not have the pixel throughput to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions, given its pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

At Medium settings, the same pattern emerges: 91 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 25%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 32%. At High settings, the numbers are 81 FPS, 61 FPS, and 41 FPS respectively, representing a 25% drop to 1440p and another 33% drop to 4K. Ultra settings show the lowest performance across the board: 72 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and 36 FPS at 4K. The scaling percentages are remarkably consistent—roughly a quarter loss when going from 1080p to 1440p, and another third when going to 4K—which suggests a purely resolution-bound workload with no CPU limitation interfering.

The fact that the i7-14700K has 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, means it is unlikely to be the cause of these frame rate drops. A CPU bottleneck would typically show a smaller FPS gap between 1080p and 4K, because the CPU work per frame stays similar while GPU load increases. Here, the FPS scales almost inversely with pixel count, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GT 710—all of which are entry-level parts. This integrated GPU is simply not designed for high-resolution gaming, and the data confirms that.

Interestingly, the frame rate at 4K Ultra is 36 FPS, which is exactly half of the 1080p Low result of 108 FPS. This 3x resolution increase (from 1080p to 4K) results in a 66% performance loss at the same settings, but switching from Low to Ultra at any resolution costs about 25-30% of the frame rate. The resolution scaling is more punishing than the settings scaling, which reinforces the idea that the GPU’s memory bandwidth—listed as "System Dependent" since the Arc B390 uses system shared memory—is a major constraint at 4K. The i7-14700K supports both DDR4 and DDR5, but the actual memory bandwidth available to the GPU depends on the system configuration, and the measured results suggest it is insufficient for 4K gaming.

For builders targeting 4K, this combo is not viable for smooth play, as even the best case (Low settings) only reaches 55 FPS, and that is borderline. At 1440p, the combo is more reasonable, with Low settings hitting 82 FPS and Medium hitting 68 FPS, but High and Ultra dip to 61 and 54 FPS respectively. The sweet spot is clearly 1080p, where every preset except Ultra stays above 80 FPS, and even Ultra manages 72 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 91 FPS average with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS. This is the only preset with reported min/max values, and the 77 FPS floor ensures consistent smoothness without dipping below 60. High settings at 1080p hit 81 FPS, which is still good, but the lack of min/max data for High makes Medium the safer recommendation due to its documented frame time consistency. Ultra at 1080p drops to 72 FPS, which is playable but offers diminishing returns over Medium for a 21% performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the recommended preset is Low, which achieves 82 FPS. Medium is playable at 68 FPS with a minimum of 58 FPS, but that minimum is dangerously close to 60 FPS, and dips below could be noticeable. High at 1440p lands at 61 FPS, which is just above 60 but with no min/max data to confirm stability. Ultra at 1440p falls to 54 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target and not recommended for smooth gameplay. If a 60 FPS target is non-negotiable, Low at 1440p is the only preset that comfortably clears it, while Medium can work if the player tolerates occasional dips.

At 3840x2160, the situation is dire. Low settings produce 55 FPS, which is the only preset above 50 FPS. Medium drops to 46 FPS, High to 41 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS. None of these are ideal for a smooth experience, but Low is the only viable option if 4K is mandatory. However, given that the combo ranks 2538 out of 2867 tested combos in this game, it is clear that 4K is not the intended use case. For most players, the best overall experience is 1080p Medium: it offers 91 FPS, a narrow 27 FPS spread between min and max, and it avoids the performance cliff seen at higher resolutions.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the delta between Low and Ultra is consistent: 36 FPS at 4K (55 to 36), 28 FPS at 1440p (82 to 54), and 36 FPS at 1080p (108 to 72). The gap is nearly identical at 1080p and 4K, which suggests the settings presets affect the GPU workload in a linear fashion. The i7-14700K, with its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 33440.5 and single-core score of 2160, is not the limiting factor at any settings level, so players should prioritize GPU-bound choices like resolution over CPU-heavy settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its base clock is 300 MHz and boost clock is 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. The memory is "System Shared," meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; the GPU uses the system’s memory, and bandwidth is "System Dependent." This is a crucial detail because it means the GPU’s performance is tied to the CPU’s memory configuration—in this case, the i7-14700K’s dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 support.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). These are all very old or very low-end parts, which contextualizes the measured FPS in Dave The Diver. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, but these theoretical numbers do not translate into high frame rates at 4K due to the shared memory bottleneck.

The lack of dedicated VRAM is the primary reason for the steep resolution scaling. At 1080p, the system shared memory can keep up with the GPU’s demands, but at 4K, the memory bandwidth becomes saturated, causing the frame rate to drop disproportionately. The fact that the GPU has a boost clock of 2500 MHz and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s suggests it is not a weak part by clock speed alone, but the integrated nature of the design limits its usefulness for gaming. The TDP of 80 W also indicates that this is designed for low-power systems, not high-performance desktops, even though it is paired here with a 125 W TDP CPU.

The i7-14700K’s integrated graphics, UHD Graphics 770, are not used in this pairing, but the Arc B390 effectively serves a similar role as an integrated solution. The GPU’s 12 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 mean it is feature-complete, but the raw performance is insufficient for demanding titles. In Dave The Diver, a 2D adventure, the GPU still struggles at 4K, which highlights how even lighter games can expose a weak GPU when resolution is pushed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings, with average FPS for all 12 combinations, plus min/max for the Medium preset at each resolution. Starting at 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 108 FPS, which is the highest average in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 91 FPS, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS. High comes in at 81 FPS, and Ultra at 72 FPS. This means at 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 36 FPS, and even the lowest preset (Ultra) stays above 70 FPS, which is smooth for most players.

Moving to 2560x1440, Low produces 82 FPS, Medium 68 FPS (min 58, max 78), High 61 FPS, and Ultra 54 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 58 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, which could cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced scenes, but the average of 68 FPS is acceptable. High at 61 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 54 FPS is not ideal. The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 26 FPS, while the drop from 1080p Ultra to 1440p Ultra is 18 FPS, indicating that lower settings suffer more from resolution scaling percentage-wise.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: Low 55 FPS, Medium 46 FPS (min 39, max 53), High 41 FPS, and Ultra 36 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 39 FPS is the lowest recorded value in the entire dataset, and even the maximum of 53 FPS is below the 60 FPS target. Low at 55 FPS is the only preset above 50 FPS, but it is still below 60. The Ultra preset at 4K produces 36 FPS, which is exactly half of the 1080p Low result, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

Comparing the Medium preset across resolutions, which is the only one with min/max data: 1080p averages 91 FPS (min 77, max 104), 1440p averages 68 FPS (min 58, max 78), and 4K averages 46 FPS (min 39, max 53). The min/max spread narrows as resolution increases (27 FPS at 1080p, 20 FPS at 1440p, 14 FPS at 4K), which suggests that at lower resolutions, the GPU is fast enough to hit high peaks but also experiences frame dips, while at 4K, the GPU is consistently slow with less variance. This is typical of a part that is overwhelmed at high pixel counts.

The data also shows that the difference between Low and Medium is smaller than between Medium and High in most cases. At 1080p, Low to Medium is a 17 FPS drop, Medium to High is 10 FPS, and High to Ultra is 9 FPS. At 1440p, the drops are 14, 7, and 7 FPS respectively. At 4K, they are 9, 5, and 5 FPS. This means that the most significant performance gain comes from dropping from Medium to Low, while the cost of going from High to Ultra is relatively small. For players seeking maximum FPS, Low is the best choice, but for a balance of visuals and performance, Medium is the sweet spot at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Dave The Diver, this pairing of Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2538 out of 2867, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested configurations. This is a poor ranking, but it is important to note that the ranking reflects the GPU’s limitations, not the CPU’s. The i7-14700K’s average benchmark score is 69355, which is 94th percentile among all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9115 (69288, 0.1% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515, 0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875, 0.7% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996, 0.9% faster). The CPU is competitive with top-tier parts, so the combo’s low rank is entirely due to the Arc B390.

The Arc B390’s average benchmark score is 1482, which is 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all significantly older or weaker parts. This means that in any game, this GPU will likely bottleneck the system, and Dave The Diver is no exception. The combo rank of 2538 out of 2867 suggests that most other tested combos, even those with older CPUs, outperform this one because they pair better GPUs with the CPU. The fact that the CPU is in the 94th percentile while the GPU is in the 9th percentile creates a massive imbalance.

In practical terms, this combo is suited for 1080p gaming at medium settings, where it can maintain 91 FPS, but it is not competitive at higher resolutions. The rank of 2538 out of 2867 means that 329 combos perform worse, which likely includes systems with very old integrated graphics or severely mismatched parts. However, for a builder with an i7-14700K, this GPU is clearly not the right choice for anything beyond light gaming. The data suggests that even a modest dedicated GPU would improve the combo’s rank significantly, but based on the measured results, the current pairing is below average.

The percentile difference between the CPU (94th) and GPU (9th) is 85 points, which is one of the largest mismatches possible. This explains why the FPS numbers are so low relative to what the CPU could support. If the GPU were upgraded, the i7-14700K would likely not be the limiting factor in Dave The Diver, as its single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160) and multi-thread performance (33440.5) are more than sufficient for a 2D adventure game. The combo’s rank is a direct reflection of the GPU’s position in the overall GPU hierarchy.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Dave The Diver with this combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 is the best resolution, as all four settings presets achieve at least 72 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only Low (82 FPS) and Medium (68 FPS) are above 60 FPS, while at 3840x2160, even Low (55 FPS) falls short of 60 FPS.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-14700K bottleneck the Intel Arc B390 in this game?

A: No. The i7-14700K has a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a linear drop, which indicates the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU.

Q: Which settings preset gives the highest minimum frame rate at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset has a minimum of 58 FPS, which is the only preset with reported min/max data. Low settings average 82 FPS but have no min/max data, so Medium is the only preset with a documented floor near 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, which is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% faster than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% faster than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% faster than the GT 710 (1443). All are in the same performance tier.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combo?

A: The data shows that 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay. The best 4K result is 55 FPS at Low settings, while Medium drops to 46 FPS, High to 41 FPS, and Ultra to 36 FPS. None of these meet the 60 FPS target consistently.

Q: What does the combo’s rank of 2538 out of 2867 mean?

A: It means that this pairing performs worse than about 88% of all tested combos in Dave The Diver. The low rank is due to the Arc B390’s 9th percentile GPU score, while the i7-14700K’s 94th percentile CPU score is not the limiting factor.