Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is a lightweight adventure title from 2023, and the measured results for the Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the Intel Arc B370 reveal a system that is decisively limited by its graphics component. The data shows a combination that can handle the game’s CPU demands with ease but struggles to maintain high frame rates at demanding resolutions, placing it near the bottom of the database’s tested combos.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions tells a clear story of GPU-bound performance. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 73 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that average to 55 FPS, a reduction of 18 frames. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 37 FPS. This scaling pattern—where performance degrades by roughly 25% at each step up in resolution—indicates that the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting factor, as the CPU is more than capable of feeding frames at lower resolutions.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, which is typical of a GPU bottleneck. At 1080p, the spread from Low (98 FPS) to Ultra (65 FPS) is 33 frames. At 1440p, that spread narrows to 25 frames (74 FPS Low vs. 49 FPS Ultra). At 4K, the spread is just 16 frames (49 FPS Low vs. 33 FPS Ultra). This compression of the settings delta at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is saturated and cannot leverage the extra headroom that lower settings provide; the pixel fill rate becomes the dominant constraint.

Notably, the 4K results are the only ones that dip below the 60 FPS threshold across all settings, with High at 37 FPS and Ultra at 33 FPS. Even at Low, the 4K average of 49 FPS falls short of a smooth 60 FPS target. The 1440p results are more playable, with High at 55 FPS and Medium at 62 FPS, while Low reaches 74 FPS. The 1080p results are the only ones where all settings exceed 60 FPS, with Medium at 82 FPS and Low at 98 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor from the Core 14th Gen series, built on Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture with a 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz, and it boosts to 6.00 GHz. The CPU’s benchmark scores are exceptional, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and a single-core score of 2262.5. Its Geekbench results are similarly strong at 21697 multicore and 2655 single-core.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU’s role is minimal. The game’s 2D pixel-art style and modest simulation elements do not stress the processor’s 36 MB of shared L3 cache or its high boost clock. The data shows that the CPU is never the bottleneck; even at 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work, the average FPS of 98 is likely limited by the Arc B370’s raw throughput rather than any CPU constraint. The i9-14900K’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the Intel Core i9-14900KF (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (0.6% slower)—have negligible performance differences, confirming that this processor is not a differentiating factor in this title.

The CPU’s 125 W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory are irrelevant to the measured frame rates here. What matters is that the i9-14900K provides ample single-thread performance for game logic, but Dave The Diver’s low CPU demand means the processor’s 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs is wasted headroom. The bottleneck is unequivocally the integrated graphics solution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank in Dave The Diver is 2642 out of 2867 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems. This is a poor showing, especially given the high-end CPU. The Intel Arc B370, which is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 25 W TDP, is the sole reason for this low ranking. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 puts it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, a figure that aligns with its nearest rivals: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% faster), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% faster). These rivals are all over a decade old, underscoring how far behind the Arc B370 is in raw graphics performance.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU is stark. The i9-14900K ranks in the 95th percentile, while the Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile. This pairing creates a system where the CPU is overkill for the workload, but the GPU cannot deliver playable frame rates at higher resolutions. The combo rank of 2642 reflects the GPU’s dominance in determining game performance, as the CPU’s strengths do not translate to higher FPS in this title.

For context, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 79097 is 1.7% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, yet the in-game results are still poor. This confirms that no amount of CPU compute can compensate for the Arc B370’s limited shading units (1280), texture mapping units (40), and raster output units (20). The GPU’s 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance is simply insufficient for 4K gaming, even in a light title like Dave The Diver.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 98 FPS on Low, 82 FPS on Medium (with a min of 70 and max of 94), 73 FPS on High, and 65 FPS on Ultra. All 1080p settings are above 60 FPS, making this the only resolution where the game is fully playable without compromises.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings yield 74 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS (min 52, max 71), High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra drops to 49 FPS. The Medium preset is the only 1440p option that maintains an average above 60 FPS, but the minimum of 52 FPS indicates occasional stutter. High and Ultra fall below the smooth threshold, suggesting that 1440p requires a settings reduction to maintain fluidity.

At 3840x2160, the results are disappointing. Low averages 49 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. No 4K preset reaches 60 FPS, and even the lowest settings fail to achieve a consistent 50 FPS. The 4K Medium results show a min of 35 FPS, which would be noticeable in fast-paced sections of the game. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable option for this combo, as the GPU’s system-shared memory and dependent bandwidth cannot handle the pixel load.

The frame time data for Medium settings shows consistent behavior: at 1080p, the spread between min and max is 24 frames (70-94), at 1440p it is 19 frames (52-71), and at 4K it is 12 frames (35-47). This tightening of the range at higher resolutions further indicates that the GPU is consistently maxed out, with less variance because the frame rate is capped by the hardware’s limits.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 300 MHz and boosts to 2400 MHz. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its memory is system-shared, with bandwidth that is system-dependent, and it draws just 25 W of power.

The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is the only benchmark recorded, and it places the Arc B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This score is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), indicating that the Arc B370’s performance is on par with legacy discrete GPUs from the early 2010s. The 1.4% advantage over the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168) does little to change its standing.

In Dave The Diver, the GPU’s limitations are exposed by the resolution scaling. The 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for 4K, where the 33-49 FPS range falls well below playable standards. The GPU’s 25 W TDP and integrated nature mean it shares memory bandwidth with the CPU, which likely contributes to the stutter seen at 1440p Medium (min 52 FPS). The boost clock of 2400 MHz is commendable for an IGP, but it cannot overcome the fundamental lack of memory bandwidth and raw throughput.

The nearest rivals confirm the GPU’s position. The ATI Radeon HD 5770, a discrete card from 2009, is 0.5% faster in synthetic tests, and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 is 0.2% faster. This places the Arc B370 in a performance tier that is simply not designed for modern gaming at high resolutions. The GPU’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 does not translate to real-world frame rates in this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This yields an average of 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS, providing a smooth and stable experience that avoids the frame rate dips seen at 1440p. The High preset at 1080p (73 FPS) is also viable, but the Medium preset offers a better balance of visual quality and performance, with the minimum frame rate staying above 70 FPS.

For users with 1440p displays, the Medium preset is the only acceptable option, with an average of 62 FPS. However, the minimum of 52 FPS means there will be occasional hitches, so players seeking a consistently smooth experience should consider dropping to Low (74 FPS) or reducing the resolution to 1080p. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p (55 FPS and 49 FPS respectively) are not recommended, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 4K, no setting is recommended for a playable experience. The Low preset at 49 FPS is the best case, but it still fails to reach 60 FPS and will feel sluggish. The data suggests that this combo should be used exclusively for 1080p gaming, where all settings are playable. For 1440p, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, but users should be prepared for occasional frame rate drops. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p (65 FPS), making it a visual showcase option for users who prioritize image quality over frame rate consistency.

The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (33 frames) indicates that the GPU has some headroom at this resolution, but the jump from Medium to High (9 frames) and High to Ultra (8 frames) shows diminishing returns. The Medium preset at 1080p represents the sweet spot, as it provides a 12% improvement over High in average FPS while maintaining a higher minimum frame rate.