Dave The Diver

Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and Intel Arc B390 form a unique pairing for Dave The Diver, combining a high-end desktop processor with an integrated-class graphics solution. The benchmark data reveals a system heavily constrained by graphics throughput, yet one capable of delivering playable frame rates at most settings. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and scaling characteristics observed in this specific configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 91, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS, based on the recorded data.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which places it 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: What is the best performing settings preset at 4K resolution?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 yields the highest average frame rate of 55 FPS, outperforming the High preset (41 FPS) and Ultra preset (36 FPS) in the measured data.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU act as the primary bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 72 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 108 FPS, showing a 36 FPS swing that is characteristic of graphics-bound performance in this configuration.

Q: What is the processor's percentile ranking among all tested CPUs?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 sits in the 89th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 46062 across all tests.

Q: Does the system support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc B390 lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) as a supported API, along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its performance profile is modest; the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% slower). This indicates a graphics solution that is competent for light to moderate workloads but far from the top tier.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and it features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. It includes 12 ray tracing cores, though for a title like Dave The Diver, the pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are more relevant to standard rendering. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning the GPU relies on the main system's DDR5 memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This shared memory architecture is a critical factor in the measured FPS, as it limits the data throughput available to the GPU compared to a dedicated VRAM solution.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the GPU's role is evident in the frame rate scaling across settings. At 1920x1080, raising the preset from Low to Ultra reduces the average FPS from 108 to 72, a 33% drop. This sensitivity to graphical load confirms that the Arc B390's compute and memory resources are the primary determinants of performance. The 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for the game's 2D/3D hybrid visuals, but the system-shared memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck as texture detail and effects increase. The data shows that the GPU is consistently the limiting component, as the frame rate responds directly to resolution and preset changes.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 81 FPS at 1080p to 61 FPS at 1440p, and further to 41 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the Arc B390's rendering throughput is heavily taxed by the increased pixel count. The Low preset shows similar behavior: 108 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K, a 49% drop overall.

The scaling pattern points to the GPU as the limiting factor. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the processor's workload is largely independent of pixel count. Instead, the consistent decline in FPS with each resolution step—roughly 25% from 1080p to 1440p and another 30% from 1440p to 4K—demonstrates that the integrated GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are exhausted as resolution climbs. The Ultra preset illustrates this most starkly: 72 FPS at 1080p, 54 FPS at 1440p, and just 36 FPS at 4K, halving the performance from the lowest to highest resolution.

This behavior also suggests that the CPU, despite its high performance, is not preventing the GPU from reaching its limits. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has ample headroom, as evidenced by its 89th percentile ranking, but the Arc B390 cannot leverage that headroom at higher resolutions. For users targeting 4K, the data indicates that only the Low preset approaches playable territory at 55 FPS, while Medium and High presets fall below 50 FPS. The resolution scaling analysis confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where the GPU can maintain more acceptable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset provides a strong balance, delivering 91 FPS average with a minimum of 77 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and shows only a 17 FPS reduction compared to Low (108 FPS), while offering improved visual quality. The High preset at 81 FPS is also viable, but Medium offers a better safety margin for dips. The Ultra preset at 72 FPS is playable but represents a 21% drop from Medium, which may not justify the visual gains for a game like Dave The Diver.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again emerges as the recommended choice, with an average of 68 FPS and a minimum of 58 FPS. This keeps the frame rate above 60 FPS on average while maintaining a reasonable minimum. The High preset at 61 FPS is borderline, as it dips closer to the 60 FPS threshold, and the Low preset at 82 FPS is smoother but sacrifices visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 54 FPS falls below the ideal range, making it less desirable for consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset is the only option that exceeds 50 FPS, averaging 55 FPS. The Medium preset at 46 FPS and High at 41 FPS are playable but may exhibit noticeable stutter, while the Ultra preset at 36 FPS is likely too low for a smooth experience. For 4K users, the Low preset is the pragmatic choice, as it provides the best playable performance. Overall, Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p are recommended for the best combination of visual quality and frame rate, while 4K users should stick to Low.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates for this combo is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 108 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. Medium averages 91 FPS, with a minimum of 77 FPS and maximum of 104 FPS. High averages 81 FPS, and Ultra averages 72 FPS, with no min/max data for the latter two.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 82 FPS. Medium averages 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 FPS and maximum of 78 FPS. High averages 61 FPS, and Ultra averages 54 FPS. The trend continues at 3840x2160, where Low averages 55 FPS. Medium averages 46 FPS, with a minimum of 39 FPS and maximum of 53 FPS. High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 36 FPS.

The data shows a consistent step-down in performance as settings increase, with the delta between Low and Ultra being 36 FPS at 1080p, 28 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This narrowing gap at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is becoming increasingly saturated, reducing the relative impact of settings changes. The min/max data for Medium settings across all resolutions indicates some frame time variance, with the spread being 27 FPS at 1080p, 20 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K, showing that frame pacing is tighter at higher resolutions as the GPU approaches its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake architecture and built on a 3 nm process. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor includes 24 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Its benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core reaches 14769, and single-core reaches 2085, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Dave The Diver, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and AI, which are typically not as demanding as graphics rendering for this title. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this combo. The frame rates scale with resolution and settings in a manner consistent with GPU limitation, and the CPU has significant headroom, as indicated by its high benchmark scores. The nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% slower) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% faster), have nearly identical average scores, confirming that the Ultra 5 235 is a high-performing processor.

The processor's 14 cores and 14 threads are more than sufficient for this game, which is unlikely to utilize all cores heavily. The 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-threaded performance, which is often critical for game logic. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation, such as frame rate plateaus across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 108 FPS average is likely near the practical limit for this GPU, and the CPU can easily feed frames at that rate. The passmark single-thread score of 4516 and multi-thread score of 37816 reinforce that this CPU is well-equipped to handle the demands of Dave The Diver without becoming a limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2538 out of 2867 tested combos for Dave The Diver, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 89th percentile, indicating a significant mismatch between the two components. The combo ranking reflects the overall system performance, which is dragged down by the integrated graphics solution.

The measured FPS data supports this ranking. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 72 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 36 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can handle most settings, and 1440p with Medium settings, where it maintains an average of 68 FPS. The ranking of 2538 out of 2867 places it in the lower quartile, meaning that most other combos offer better performance in this game.

The disparity between the CPU and GPU performance is a key takeaway. The Ultra 5 235 is a capable processor, but the Arc B390's integrated nature limits the overall gaming experience. Users with this combo would benefit from reducing resolution or settings to achieve playable frame rates, as the data shows that the GPU is the definitive constraint. The ranking serves as a clear indicator that this is not a high-performance gaming combination, but rather one that can deliver acceptable results at lower graphical loads.