Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

This combination places 215th out of 3,710 tested combos in Dave The Diver, a strong showing that reflects the pairing's ability to push frame rates well past display refresh thresholds across every resolution tested. The data reveals a system that is rarely the limiting factor, with the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads providing ample headroom while the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth handle the game's visual demands with ease. What makes this dataset particularly interesting is how the scaling curves shift between resolutions—the gap between Low and Ultra presets tells a clear story about where the bottleneck resides.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but revealing pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 408 FPS, dropping to 307 FPS at 1440p and 206 FPS at 4K—a 49.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demands escalate. The CPU's single-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160, is more than sufficient to feed the GPU at these frame rates.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern intensifies: 342 FPS at 1080p, 257 FPS at 1440p, and 172 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 24.9%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 33.1%. This non-linear scaling suggests that the RTX 4080's 9728 shading units are being progressively saturated as resolution climbs. At High settings, the values are 305 FPS, 230 FPS, and 154 FPS respectively—the 1080p-to-4K reduction reaches 49.5%, mirroring the Low preset's relative decline, which hints at a consistent GPU-bound scenario beyond 1080p.

Ultra settings produce the most interesting data: 269 FPS at 1080p, 203 FPS at 1440p, and 136 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 24.5%, nearly identical to the Medium preset's 24.9% decline, yet the 1440p-to-4K drop is 33.0%, again closely matching Medium. This consistency across presets—roughly 25% loss at each resolution step—indicates that the game's rendering pipeline scales uniformly with pixel count, and the RTX 4080's 2205 MHz base clock and 2505 MHz boost clock are the determining factors. The data implies that at 1080p, even Ultra settings leave the GPU with headroom, as evidenced by the 269 FPS result being 97.8% higher than the 4K Ultra figure.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080's specifications directly explain the measured frame rates. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Dave The Diver's art style and texture loads at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are present, though the game's cartoonish aesthetic likely doesn't stress these units heavily—the data shows no anomalous performance cliffs that would indicate ray tracing overhead.

The clock behavior is notable: the 2205 MHz base clock boosting to 2505 MHz represents an 13.6% uplift, and the measured FPS scaling between presets suggests the GPU sustains these clocks under load. At 4K Ultra, the 136 FPS average with no recorded minimum suggests consistent frame delivery, and the 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate aligns with the observed 4K performance. The 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the theoretical ceiling, but the game's demands at 1080p Low (408 FPS) show the GPU is nowhere near that limit—it's the CPU that sets the ceiling there.

What's curious is the gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 139 FPS (408 vs 269), while at 4K it's 70 FPS (206 vs 136). This narrowing gap from 34.1% at 1080p to 34.0% at 4K—nearly identical—indicates that the GPU's rendering pipeline handles the settings' graphical features (shadows, post-processing, texture filtering) with proportional cost regardless of pixel count. The RTX 4080's 304 TMUs and 112 ROPs are the likely throughput arbiters here, with the texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s proving sufficient across all tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers the most balanced experience: 257 FPS average with a 219 FPS minimum and 296 FPS maximum. This combination offers a 26.3% improvement over Ultra at the same resolution while maintaining frame pacing that exceeds any 144Hz display's needs. For 4K users, the High preset at 154 FPS is the recommended choice—it's 13.2% faster than Ultra's 136 FPS and still comfortably above 144Hz refresh rates, making the visual quality trade-off worthwhile.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset's 269 FPS average is the most sensible option, as the 139 FPS penalty from Low is imperceptible when the base frame rate is already so high. The data suggests that Low settings at any resolution are unnecessary for competitive play in this adventure title, since the minimum frame rates are never recorded below 290 FPS even at 1080p Medium. The Medium preset's measured minimums (146 FPS at 4K, 219 FPS at 1440p, 290 FPS at 1080p) provide the only available minimum FPS data points, and they all indicate stable performance without dips below standard refresh ranges.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: The measured drop from 408 FPS at 1080p to 206 FPS at 4K represents a 49.5% reduction. This indicates the RTX 4080 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions—the GPU's pixel throughput (280.6 GPixel/s) and memory bandwidth (716.8 GB/s) are taxed increasingly as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700K holding back the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: The data suggests no—at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 408 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit given its 3.40 GHz base and 5.60 GHz boost clocks. However, the 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial headroom, as the game's single-threaded demands are met by the 2160 Cinebench R23 single-core score.

Q: What's the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 delivers 154 FPS average, which is 13.2% faster than Ultra's 136 FPS. Since both exceed 120Hz, the High preset provides a better frame rate headroom with minimal visual compromise, based on the measured data.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080's average benchmark score is 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER's 54,209. The data shows the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828 (1.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698 (2.6% higher).

Q: Does the CPU's multi-core performance matter for Dave The Diver?

A: The game likely benefits from the CPU's multi-core strength—the 33,440.5 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and 18,544 R20 multi-core score indicate strong threading. Yet the fact that 1080p Low hits 408 FPS suggests the single-core performance (2,160 R23) is the primary driver, with the 28 threads ensuring no background tasks cause frame dips.

Q: Why is there no minimum FPS data for most settings?

A: Only the Medium preset at each resolution includes minimum FPS values (146 at 4K, 219 at 1440p, 290 at 1080p). This suggests the measurement methodology only captured minimums for that preset, or the other presets had stable frame delivery without significant dips worth recording.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's 215th place out of 3,710 tested combinations places it in the top 5.8% of all systems tested in Dave The Diver. This ranking is remarkable because it places the system ahead of 3,495 other combos, many of which likely feature newer or more expensive hardware. The percentile placement reflects the RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the i7-14700K's 94th percentile among all CPUs, indicating that both components are well-matched to the game's requirements.

Compared to the CPU's nearest rivals, the i7-14700K's average benchmark score of 69,355 sits nearly even with the AMD EPYC 9115 (69,288, 0.1% higher) and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515, 0.2% lower). The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 versus 54,247—a 0.1% difference that is negligible in real-world gameplay. This means the combo's 215th rank is not due to any single component's weakness, but rather the game's specific optimization for this hardware pairing.

The rank also implies that only 214 other combinations deliver higher average FPS across the tested scenarios. Given that the measured FPS at 1080p Ultra (269 FPS) and 4K Ultra (136 FPS) are both far above playable thresholds, the remaining 214 combos likely include multi-GPU setups or higher-tier RTX 4090 configurations. The data positions this combo as a top-tier choice for Dave The Diver specifically, even if its general-purpose benchmark scores place it lower in the CPU and GPU hierarchies.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K's specifications provide context for the measured FPS results. With 20 cores (including performance and efficiency cores) and 28 threads, the CPU offers substantial parallel processing capability, as evidenced by its 33,440.5 Cinebench R23 multi-core score. This multi-threaded strength is unlikely to be fully utilized by Dave The Diver, which is not a heavily threaded title, but it ensures that system-level overhead never impacts frame delivery.

The CPU's single-core performance is more relevant: the 2,160 Cinebench R23 single-core score and 4,472 Passmark single-thread score indicate strong per-thread performance. The 3.40 GHz base clock boosting to 5.60 GHz represents a 64.7% frequency uplift, which directly benefits the game's main thread. At 1080p Low, the 408 FPS result suggests the CPU can feed the GPU at rates exceeding 400 frames per second, meaning it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions—the GPU takes over as the constraint as resolution increases.

The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data locality for the game's assets, and the 10 nm process node with 257 mm² die size indicates efficient power delivery (125 W TDP). The CPU's DDR4 and DDR5 memory support, while not directly measured in the FPS data, means the system's memory bandwidth could vary, but the consistent FPS across the tested settings suggests memory is not a limiting factor. The 94th percentile ranking among all CPUs places the i7-14700K above most alternatives, and its benchmark scores are within 0.9% of its nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F at 69,996 and AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at 69,875.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers frame rates that are almost absurdly high: Low settings produce 408 FPS, Medium produces 342 FPS (with a 290 FPS minimum and 393 FPS maximum), High produces 305 FPS, and Ultra produces 269 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 139 FPS (34.1%), and even at Ultra, the frame rate is more than double the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The Medium preset's minimum of 290 FPS indicates that even worst-case scenes never dip below 290 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high: Low delivers 307 FPS, Medium delivers 257 FPS (219 FPS minimum, 296 FPS maximum), High delivers 230 FPS, and Ultra delivers 203 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p reduction ranges from 24.5% (Ultra) to 24.9% (Medium and High), showing a consistent scaling factor. The Medium preset's 219 FPS minimum means even the most demanding scenes at 1440p stay above 200 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the GPU's workload finally becomes significant: Low produces 206 FPS, Medium produces 172 FPS (146 FPS minimum, 198 FPS maximum), High produces 154 FPS, and Ultra produces 136 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K reduction is 33.0% for Ultra and 33.1% for Medium, indicating that the pixel count increase has a proportionally larger impact at 4K. The Ultra preset's 136 FPS is still above 120Hz, making it viable for high-refresh 4K displays, while the Medium preset's 146 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay even during intensive underwater scenes. The RTX 4080's 16 GB memory capacity proves sufficient at 4K Ultra, as no texture-related stutters are indicated by the data, and the 206 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that the GPU's raw compute power (48.74 TFLOPS FP32) is more than enough for this title's requirements.