Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is a 2D adventure title that does not demand a high-end GPU, but the measured data for this Intel Core i7-14700KF + Intel Arc B390 combo still tells a clear story about component balance. The combo ranks 2538 out of 2867 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems. That rank is surprising given the CPU’s strength, but the Arc B390’s performance class explains the outcome. The data indicates a system where the processor is vastly overqualified for the workload, while the graphics solution becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2538 out of 2867 tested combos places it firmly in the lower quartile of systems for Dave The Diver. This is a poor showing for a platform built around a Core i7-14700KF, which is a top-tier desktop processor. The explanation lies in the GPU’s benchmark standing. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals in the database are all legacy or entry-level parts: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (deltaPct 1.3), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (deltaPct 1.5), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (deltaPct 2.5), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (deltaPct 2.7). The Arc B390 outperforms these by margins of just over one to nearly three percentage points, which is negligible in real-world gaming. The data suggests this combo will struggle to deliver smooth frame rates in most modern games, and Dave The Diver is no exception—it produces playable but not high-refresh results.

The CPU, by contrast, is a heavyweight. The i7-14700KF ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70163. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (deltaPct 0.2), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.4), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.9), and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (deltaPct -1). These deltas are small, meaning the i7-14700KF trades blows with the fastest processors available. In Dave The Diver, however, that CPU power is mostly idle. The game’s 2D art style and moderate simulation elements do not scale with 20 cores, and the measured FPS reflects a GPU-bound scenario at most settings. The rank is thus a direct consequence of pairing a 94th-percentile CPU with a 9th-percentile GPU—the weakest link dictates the outcome.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake-R architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz, and it boosts to 5.60 GHz. The CPU has 33 MB of shared L3 cache, 2 MB of L2 cache per core, and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU posts strong numbers: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235. Geekbench multi-core reaches 21462, while single-core hits 2578. Passmark multi-thread is 52425, and single-thread is 4480. These scores place the CPU in the top 6% of all processors.

For Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role is minimal. The game is not thread-hungry, and the measured FPS does not vary with core count. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 108 FPS, which is the highest average across all tested settings. At 1080p Ultra, it drops to 72 FPS. That spread is entirely due to GPU workload, not CPU limits. The i7-14700KF’s high single-core performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235, ensures that the game’s main thread is never a bottleneck. Even the weakest measured result—4K Ultra at 36 FPS—is unlikely to be CPU-capped, because the same CPU can push 108 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates the CPU is operating far below its potential in this title, leaving headroom for more demanding games or multitasking. The launch MSRP for this CPU is $384, which reflects its high-end positioning, but in this specific game, that investment yields no tangible FPS benefit over a much cheaper processor.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, with 12 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz. Memory is system-shared, with bandwidth listed as system-dependent. The GPU’s pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The TDP is 80 W, and it is an IGP with no power connectors. The GPU’s only benchmark score is 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it at the 9th percentile.

In Dave The Diver, the Arc B390 is the limiting component. The GPU’s low absolute performance is evident in the measured FPS: at 1080p Low, the combo averages 108 FPS, but this falls to 72 FPS at 1080p Ultra. At 1440p, the range is 82 FPS (Low) to 54 FPS (Ultra). At 4K, it drops further to 55 FPS (Low) and 36 FPS (Ultra). The GPU’s system-shared memory means bandwidth is dependent on the system’s RAM, which can hurt performance in texture-heavy scenes, but Dave The Diver’s art style is modest. The GPU’s 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are enough for 2D sprites but not for high-resolution rendering with heavy post-processing. The nearest rivals—GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, GT 710—are all ancient or entry-level parts, and the Arc B390 only beats them by 1.3% to 2.7%. This is not a gaming GPU by modern standards. The data shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU struggles to maintain high refresh rates, and at 4K, it falls below 60 FPS even on Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the combo delivers its best results. Low averages 108 FPS, Medium averages 91 FPS with a min of 77 and max of 104, High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 72 FPS. These numbers are playable for a 60 Hz display, but they do not take advantage of high-refresh monitors. The drop from Low to Ultra is 36 FPS, a 33% reduction, which indicates the GPU is handling the extra graphical load.

At 1440p, the FPS drops across the board. Low averages 82 FPS, Medium averages 68 FPS with a min of 58 and max of 78, High averages 61 FPS, and Ultra averages 54 FPS. The 1440p results are still playable on a 60 Hz screen, but Ultra dips below 60 FPS, making it marginal for smooth gameplay. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 28 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K, the combo struggles. Low averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS with a min of 39 and max of 53, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. Only Low achieves an average above 60 FPS, and even then, it is close to the threshold. The 4K Ultra result of 36 FPS is below the 40 FPS that many players consider the minimum for acceptable gameplay.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can hit high FPS on lower presets. At 1440p, it remains usable but requires lowering settings to maintain 60 FPS. At 4K, the system is not viable for smooth gameplay except on Low, and even then, the average of 55 FPS leaves no headroom for dips. The Medium preset at each resolution provides the only min FPS data points—77 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K—indicating that the GPU’s performance is consistent but limited.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU as the bottleneck. At Low settings, the combo achieves 108 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. That is a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Medium, the numbers are 91 FPS (1080p), 68 FPS (1440p), and 46 FPS (4K), a 49% drop as well. At High, the sequence is 81 FPS, 61 FPS, and 41 FPS, a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra, the numbers are 72 FPS, 54 FPS, and 36 FPS, a 50% drop. The consistency of these percentage reductions—always around 49-50%—indicates that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload.

The CPU’s role in this scaling is negligible. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to stay flat across resolutions or to drop less sharply, because the CPU workload does not increase with resolution. Instead, the FPS falls in near-perfect proportion to the pixel count: 1080p has about 2.07 million pixels, 1440p has about 3.69 million, and 4K has about 8.29 million. The FPS ratios are roughly 1.0 : 0.76 : 0.51 from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, which closely matches the pixel count ratios. This is strong evidence that the Arc B390 is fully saturated at all tested settings, and the i7-14700KF has no influence on the frame rate. The data shows that lowering resolution is the most effective way to improve FPS, but even at 1080p Low, the combo cannot reach 120 FPS, capping at 108 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo in Dave The Diver, the data points to 1080p as the target resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 108 FPS, which is smooth for most displays. However, Low settings may degrade visual quality unnecessarily. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 91 FPS with a minimum of 77 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS and provides a better visual experience. The min FPS of 77 FPS ensures that the game never stutters below playable levels. High at 1080p averages 81 FPS, which is also playable, but the min FPS is not recorded, so the Medium preset is safer for consistency.

At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 68 FPS with a min of 58 FPS. That min is below 60 FPS, which may cause noticeable dips on a 60 Hz display. High at 1440p averages 61 FPS, but again, the min is not recorded. For a stable experience at 1440p, Low is the only preset that guarantees an average above 80 FPS (82 FPS), but it sacrifices visual fidelity. At 4K, the data is clear: no preset achieves a comfortable 60 FPS average. Low averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS, High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS. The 4K Medium min FPS of 39 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Given these numbers, the recommended setup is 1080p Medium for the best balance of visual quality and performance. The 91 FPS average and 77 FPS min ensure a smooth experience, and the Medium preset is likely to include enough graphical detail for the game’s 2D art style. If the player prefers higher settings, 1080p High at 81 FPS is acceptable, but the lack of min FPS data means there is a small risk of dips. For 1440p users, Low at 82 FPS is the only preset that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, but it will look worse than 1080p Medium. At 4K, the system is not recommended for this game, as even Low fails to reach 60 FPS average. The data suggests that the Arc B390 is simply not powerful enough for high-resolution gaming, and the i7-14700KF cannot compensate for that limitation. In summary, 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, with 1080p High as a viable alternative if visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate consistency.