Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver presents an unusual performance profile for a top-tier CPU and GPU pairing, with the data indicating that the game is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at every setting, yet still capable of delivering exceptionally high frame rates even at 4K Ultra. The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination never dips below the 150 FPS average mark in any measured configuration, establishing a massive performance headroom that makes this title trivially easy to run for this hardware. Across all resolutions and presets, the scaling pattern from Low to Ultra suggests that the RTX 4090 is the primary determinant of frame rate, while the i9-14900K’s substantial multi-core resources remain largely underutilized.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is remarkably modest in percentage terms, which reveals that even at lower resolutions, the system is not starved for compute resources. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 337 FPS at 1920x1080 to 254 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 170 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24.6% performance reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33.1% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 49.6%, which is a substantial absolute change, but the fact that the game still maintains 170 FPS average at 4K High indicates that the rendering pipeline is not encountering a hard bottleneck.

The pattern becomes more informative when examining the Low preset scaling. At Low settings, the frame rate starts at 451 FPS at 1080p, drops to 340 FPS at 1440p, and settles at 227 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 24.6% and 33.2% respectively, which are nearly identical to the High preset scaling. This consistency across presets strongly suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth rather than any CPU-side geometry or draw call processing. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller relative drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, because the lower graphical load would shift more work onto the processor.

The Ultra preset shows the same scaling behavior, with 298 FPS at 1080p, 224 FPS at 1440p, and 150 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 24.8%, and the 1440p-to-4K drop is 33.0%. This uniformity across all four presets is a textbook signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth are being taxed progressively as resolution increases, but the i9-14900K’s 24 cores and 32 threads never become the pacing item. The data indicates that the game’s engine is well-optimized for high core counts, but it simply does not require the full computational might of this processor at any resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the undisputed performance driver in Dave The Diver, and the benchmark results show that its specifications are more than adequate for this title. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, which are relatively high frequencies that contribute to the exceptional frame rates observed. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, a figure that is critical for maintaining smooth performance at 4K resolutions where texture and geometry data demands increase exponentially. Even at the most demanding configuration tested, 3840x2160 Ultra, the GPU maintains a 150 FPS average, which suggests that the memory subsystem is not being saturated.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities further support the idea that this is a GPU-limited scenario. With 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, the RTX 4090 delivers 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s. These figures explain why the game can achieve 451 FPS at 1080p Low, as the pixel fill rate is more than sufficient to handle the relatively simple pixel shader work at that resolution. The texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s also ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the 512 TMUs can effectively process the game’s textures without causing a stutter.

When comparing the RTX 4090 to its nearest rivals, the benchmark scores show a tight grouping at the top of the GPU chart. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 60347, which puts it at the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitor, the Intel Arc Pro A60, has an average score of 60326, a delta of 0%, indicating that the two are virtually identical in synthetic benchmarks. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, which is 2.5% higher, while the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657, which is 2.9% lower. This narrow spread in synthetic scores does not translate to the measured FPS in Dave The Diver, where the RTX 4090’s real-world performance is exceptional, but it does suggest that the game may not be leveraging the GPU’s full feature set, such as ray tracing or DLSS, which would differentiate it more clearly from lower-tier cards.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this CPU and GPU combo in Dave The Diver?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 451 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration that exceeds the 400 FPS mark in the measured data.

Q: Does the game become CPU-bound at any resolution or setting?

A: No. The scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all presets, with identical percentage drops of approximately 24.6% and 33.0% for each resolution step. This uniformity indicates the GPU is the limiting component at all times.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 298 at 1920x1080 to 150 at 3840x2160, representing a 49.7% reduction. Despite this halving of performance, the game still maintains a 150 FPS average at 4K Ultra.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate recorded in any measured configuration?

A: The lowest average FPS is 150, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. The minimum FPS recorded for any configuration is 162, which was observed at 4K Medium settings.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra presets?

A: Yes. At 4K, High settings yield 170 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 150 FPS, a 11.8% difference. At 1080p, the difference is 337 FPS versus 298 FPS, which is 11.6%. This consistent gap suggests Ultra adds a moderate but consistent load.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark percentile relate to its performance in this game?

A: The i9-14900K is at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097. However, its nearest rival, the i9-14900KF, scores 79371, which is only 0.3% higher, indicating that the CPU’s extreme multi-core performance is not a differentiator in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression across presets. Low settings produce the highest average at 451 FPS, followed by Medium at 378 FPS with a minimum of 321 FPS and a maximum of 434 FPS. High settings drop to 337 FPS average, and Ultra is the slowest at 298 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 153 FPS, or 33.9% of the Low value. This indicates that the graphical presets have a significant impact on the GPU load, but even the heaviest setting leaves substantial headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings average 340 FPS, while Medium drops to 284 FPS with a minimum of 242 FPS and a maximum of 327 FPS. High settings average 254 FPS, and Ultra falls to 224 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 116 FPS, which is a 34.1% reduction. The consistency of this percentage across 1080p and 1440p reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the game, as the relative cost of each preset tier remains constant regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still impressive but shows the expected impact of the increased pixel count. Low settings average 227 FPS, Medium drops to 190 FPS with a minimum of 162 FPS and a maximum of 219 FPS, High averages 170 FPS, and Ultra comes in at 150 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 77 FPS, or 33.9%. This is nearly identical to the percentage drops seen at lower resolutions, which is a powerful indicator that the game’s scaling is purely resolution-driven and not affected by CPU limitations. The minimum FPS of 162 at 4K Medium is notably close to the average of 170 FPS at 4K High, suggesting that the frame time variance is well-controlled.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance is achieved with High settings at any resolution. At 4K, High settings deliver 170 FPS average, which is 20 FPS higher than Ultra’s 150 FPS, while offering a visually superior experience to Medium’s 190 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is relatively small in absolute terms, but the 11.8% performance gain from dropping from Ultra to High is worthwhile for users who want to maintain a higher frame rate ceiling. Since the game is GPU-bound, reducing the preset from Ultra to High reduces the GPU load without introducing any CPU-side bottlenecks.

For users with high refresh rate displays, High settings at 1440p provide 254 FPS average, which is more than sufficient for any monitor on the market. The jump to Medium at 1440p increases the average to 284 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss may not be justified for a 30 FPS gain. Similarly, at 1080p, High settings at 337 FPS are excellent, and the 451 FPS from Low settings is overkill for all practical refresh rates. The data suggests that Ultra settings are not necessary for a smooth experience, as even the minimum FPS of 162 at 4K Medium is well above the threshold for consistent gameplay.

The Medium preset at 4K, with its recorded minimum of 162 FPS and maximum of 219 FPS, shows the most stable frame time behavior of the 4K configurations. However, the average of 190 FPS is only 20 FPS higher than High, which makes High the recommended choice for users prioritizing visual quality without sacrificing performance. The Ultra preset, while playable at 150 FPS average, offers diminishing returns in visual enhancement for a 11.8% performance penalty. In all cases, the combination of the i9-14900K and RTX 4090 ensures that no setting combination will result in a sub-60 FPS experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K’s role in Dave The Diver is that of a stable foundation rather than a performance differentiator. The CPU’s 24 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, provide far more processing power than this game requires. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is at the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, yet this extreme multi-core capability does not translate into higher frame rates in this title, as the GPU is consistently the limiting factor.

The CPU’s cache hierarchy, with 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3, is more than adequate for the game’s data demands. The game’s reliance on the GPU is so pronounced that the CPU’s single-core performance, which is excellent as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5, is not a constraint. The i9-14900K’s nearest rivals, including the i9-14900KF at a 0.3% lower average score and the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at a 0.6% lower score, would likely perform identically in this game, as the CPU is not the bottleneck.

The fact that the game maintains high frame rates across all presets with no CPU-bound behavior indicates that the engine is efficient in its use of processor resources. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores, reducing latency, but the game’s simple graphics pipeline does not require the full computational throughput of this processor. The data confirms that the i9-14900K is a high-end choice for this game, but a less powerful CPU would not meaningfully reduce the frame rates observed, as the RTX 4090’s performance ceiling is the true determinant of the experience.