Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an interesting case study for high-end hardware, as the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination are exceptionally high across all tested scenarios. The data suggests a system that is heavily overqualified for the task, with performance consistently far exceeding the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The analysis of the measured FPS reveals a pattern where the GPU is the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's substantial 20-core, 28-thread configuration ensures that even at lower resolutions, the frame rate ceiling is remarkably high.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline in performance as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 268 FPS, which drops to 202 FPS at 1440p and further to 135 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49.6% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at the Ultra preset, indicating that the rendering workload is scaling significantly with pixel count.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 303 at 1080p, to 228 at 1440p, and then to 153 at 4K. This shows a 49.5% drop from 1080p to 4K, nearly identical to the Ultra scaling. The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory, with 340 FPS at 1080p, 256 FPS at 1440p, and 171 FPS at 4K, representing a 49.7% decrease. Even at Low settings, where the CPU might be expected to become a limiting factor, the scaling remains steep: 406 FPS at 1080p drops to 306 FPS at 1440p and then to 205 FPS at 4K, a 49.5% reduction.

This consistent ~50% performance drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in this configuration. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are being tasked with an increasing pixel workload, and the data shows the GPU's compute capabilities, with 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance, are the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The CPU's role appears secondary here, as even at 4K Low settings, where the GPU workload is relatively lighter, the system still produces 205 FPS, suggesting the i7-14700KF is more than capable of feeding the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Examining the measured rows, the data suggests that the Ultra preset provides the most balanced experience relative to the hardware's capability, though the differences between presets are substantial. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 135 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but represents a 21.6% decrease from the High preset's 153 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K is 10.5%, from 171 FPS to 153 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is another 11.8% drop.

For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the Ultra preset at 1440p delivering 202 FPS is a compelling option, as it maintains a very high frame rate while providing the highest settings. The data shows that the gap between Medium and Ultra at 1440p is 21.1%, from 256 FPS to 202 FPS, which may be a worthwhile trade-off for the visual improvements. At 1080p, all presets produce frame rates above 268 FPS, making the choice less critical, though the Ultra preset still offers a 21.1% reduction from Medium.

The Low preset at any resolution produces frame rates that are likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays, with 406 FPS at 1080p and 205 FPS at 4K. However, for a game like Dave The Diver, which is an adventure title, the visual quality differences between Low and Ultra are likely to be noticeable. The measured data suggests that the High preset at 4K offers a sweet spot, delivering 153 FPS with a 10.5% improvement over Medium and only an 11.8% penalty compared to Ultra. This combination of high frame rates and presumably solid visual quality appears to be the most efficient use of the hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant factor in the measured FPS results, particularly as resolution increases. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is a significant asset for 4K gaming, as the data shows the card maintaining playable frame rates even at Ultra settings. The memory configuration, with a 256-bit bus and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, provides the necessary throughput for high-resolution textures, and the measured FPS at 4K Ultra of 135 FPS indicates that the VRAM capacity is not being exceeded.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and boost of 2550 MHz, contribute to its performance, but the architecture is the key. The RTX 4080 SUPER, based on the AD103 chip and Ada Lovelace architecture, has 10,240 shading units and 80 RT cores. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score of 6600 places it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, indicating its high-end positioning. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database show it is closely matched with the standard RTX 4080, with a deltaPct of -0.1%, meaning the SUPER variant is essentially on par in synthetic tests.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the GPU's role is to render the game's visual elements, and the data shows it does so efficiently. The scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern based on pixel count, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. The fact that the frame rate drops by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 4K, regardless of settings preset, confirms that the GPU's pixel processing capabilities are the limiting factor. This is further supported by the Passmark G3D score of 34245, which ranks the GPU in the 86th percentile, indicating its strong but not absolute top-tier performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 406 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate in the dataset. The Medium preset at this resolution produces 340 FPS with a minimum of 289 FPS and maximum of 391 FPS, indicating some frame time variance. High settings deliver 303 FPS, while Ultra drops to 268 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 34%, from 406 to 268 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 306 FPS, Medium produces 256 FPS with a min of 217 and max of 294, High delivers 228 FPS, and Ultra drops to 202 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 34.1%, nearly identical to the 1080p spread. This consistency suggests that the settings presets have a uniform impact on the rendering workload, regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are still high but show the expected decrease. Low settings average 205 FPS, Medium produces 171 FPS with a min of 146 and max of 197, High delivers 153 FPS, and Ultra drops to 135 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K represents the lowest measured average FPS in the entire dataset, but it remains well above 60 FPS. The Medium preset's min FPS of 146 at 4K is particularly noteworthy, as it indicates that even under demanding scenes, the frame rate does not drop below the refresh rate of most high-end monitors.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 252nd out of 3710 tested combos in the database, placing it in the top 6.8% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive but not surprising, given the high-end nature of both components. The CPU's percentile of 94 against all CPUs and the GPU's percentile of 86 against all GPUs indicate that this combo sits in the upper echelon of hardware, though it is not the absolute top performer.

The ranking implies that there are 251 other combos that perform better in this game, which likely include configurations with the RTX 4090 or other top-tier GPUs. However, the data shows that this combo delivers excellent performance for Dave The Diver, with the lowest measured FPS being 135 at 4K Ultra. The rank of 252 out of 3710 suggests that while this is a high-performing combo, it is not the best possible, but the difference in real-world gameplay is likely minimal given the high frame rates achieved.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is 0.2% faster, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.9% faster, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is 1% slower. These small deltas indicate that the i7-14700KF is very competitive in its class, and the choice between these CPUs would have minimal impact on gaming performance. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals show it is nearly identical to the standard RTX 4080, with the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X being 1.1% faster, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S being 2.7% and 2.8% faster, respectively.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Dave The Diver?

A: The highest average FPS is 406, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain above 60 FPS at 4K with the highest settings?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 135, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while the standard RTX 4080 has a score of 54247, making the SUPER 0.1% slower.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all other CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is in the top 6% of processors.

Q: What is the frame time variance at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 256, with a minimum of 217 FPS and a maximum of 294 FPS, showing a variance of 77 FPS.

Q: How many total combos are ranked in the database?

A: The database contains 3710 tested combos, and this specific combo ranks 252nd.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF plays a supporting role in Dave The Diver, as the game appears to be heavily GPU-bound based on the resolution scaling data. The CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz, provide substantial processing power that ensures the GPU is never starved of data. The L3 cache of 33 MB shared across the cores helps with game logic and asset streaming, while the dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 allows for flexible system configurations.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its high-end positioning. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and single-core score of 6235 indicate strong performance in both multithreaded and single-threaded workloads. The Geekbench multi-core score of 21462 and single-core score of 2578 further confirm this. The Passmark multithread score of 52425 and single-thread score of 4480 also show balanced performance. These scores contribute to the CPU's 94th percentile ranking, with an average benchmark score of 70163.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, while the GPU renders the frame. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 406 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high frame rates. However, the fact that the frame rate drops by approximately 50% when moving to 4K indicates that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F with a 0.2% higher score, would likely produce nearly identical results in this game, as the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 125W TDP and Socket 1700 compatibility make it a power-hungry but capable part, and its production status is listed as Active, indicating it is still a current product.