Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver — Intel Core Ultra 5 235 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

This combo delivers exceptional frame rates across all tested resolutions in Dave The Diver, with the data showing a clear pattern: the RTX 5080 remains the dominant force even at 4K, while the Core Ultra 5 235 provides ample headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck. The measured results place this pairing in the top tier of tested configurations, ranking 146th out of 2,867 combos, which puts it in the 95th percentile of all tested systems for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how this game scales with pixel count and where the performance ceiling lies. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 423 at 1080p to 318 at 1440p, then to 213 at 4K — representing a 24.8% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 33.0% drop from 1440p to 4K. This steep decline at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is doing increasingly heavy lifting as pixel count grows, which is expected for a game with relatively modest CPU demands.

The High settings curve tells a similar story: 316 FPS at 1080p, 238 FPS at 1440p, and 159 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are consistent — roughly 24.7% from 1080p to 1440p and 33.2% from 1440p to 4K. This uniformity across settings suggests that resolution scaling is consistent regardless of visual fidelity, pointing to a GPU-bound scenario at all tested resolutions.

Ultra settings amplify the resolution penalty further. The 1080p to 1440p drop is from 279 to 210 FPS (24.7% decrease), while 1440p to 4K drops from 210 to 141 FPS (32.9% decrease). The fact that the 4K Ultra result (141 FPS) remains well above 60 FPS demonstrates that this GPU has substantial reserve capacity even in the most demanding configuration tested.

The scaling pattern indicates that Dave The Diver is primarily GPU-limited at resolutions above 1080p. The CPU's role becomes more apparent at 1080p Low, where the 423 FPS result approaches what the processor can feed to the GPU. This is a classic sign of a balanced system where neither component becomes a severe bottleneck, but the GPU clearly dictates the upper bound at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 brings 14 cores and 14 threads with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This configuration, based on the Arrow Lake architecture on a 3 nm process, delivers strong single-thread performance that matters for game logic and frame pacing. The Cinebench R23 scores — 14,769 multi-core and 2,085 single-core — place this CPU in the 89th percentile of all processors, indicating robust general-purpose performance.

In Dave The Diver, the CPU's influence is most visible at lower resolutions and settings where the GPU has spare capacity. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 423 FPS, which is 36.7% higher than the 4K Low result of 213 FPS. This gap reflects the CPU's ability to feed frames quickly when the GPU is not the limiting factor. The fact that 1080p Low (423 FPS) is only slightly higher than 1080p High (316 FPS) — a 33.9% difference — suggests that the CPU can handle the game's logic at very high rates without becoming a hard ceiling.

The processor's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% ahead), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% behind), AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% ahead), and AMD EPYC 7303 (0.2% ahead). These tiny deltas indicate that the Core Ultra 5 235 sits in a tightly contested performance band, but for this game, the measured FPS results show no signs of CPU starvation.

With 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, the CPU has sufficient data throughput for a title like Dave The Diver, which does not appear to be cache-sensitive based on the frame rate consistency across settings. The 14 threads handle the game's workload without issue, as evidenced by the high minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings — 301 FPS at 1080p, 227 FPS at 1440p, and 152 FPS at 4K. These minimums are all well above typical display refresh rates, indicating smooth frame delivery without stutter.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 146th out of 2,867 tested combos for Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 5.1% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the synergy between the Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 5080, which together produce frame rates that exceed what most systems can achieve in this game. The percentile position suggests that while there are faster combos (likely featuring higher-end CPUs or multi-GPU setups), this pairing delivers near-elite performance for a single-GPU desktop configuration.

Breaking down the ranking by resolution, the combo's strongest showing is at 1080p, where even Ultra settings produce 279 FPS — a result that would satisfy the most demanding high-refresh-rate monitors. The 4K Ultra result of 141 FPS still places this combo in territory where most tested systems would struggle to maintain 60 FPS, yet this pairing nearly doubles that threshold.

The rank of 146 out of 2,867 also implies that approximately 2,721 combos perform worse, while 145 deliver higher frame rates. Given that the RTX 5080 sits in the 87th percentile of all GPUs and the CPU in the 89th percentile, the combo rank aligns with expectations — both components are above-average performers, and their combination yields a top-tier result. The data suggests that the limiting factor for this combo's rank is not the CPU or GPU individually but rather the presence of combos with even newer or more specialized hardware.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 141, with no minimum or maximum recorded. This represents a 49.6% drop from the 4K Low result of 213 FPS, showing that Ultra settings impose a significant but manageable penalty.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Dave The Diver?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter at resolutions of 1440p and above. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 423 FPS, which is only 33.9% higher than 1080p High at 316 FPS, suggesting the CPU can keep up but the GPU workload grows with settings.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low produces 318 FPS while Ultra produces 210 FPS — a difference of 108 FPS or 51.4%. The Medium setting sits between at 266 FPS, showing a predictable scaling curve.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 146th out of 2,867 combos, placing it in the top 5.1% of all systems tested for Dave The Diver. This is consistent with the GPU's 87th percentile and CPU's 89th percentile standings.

Q: What frame rate can be expected at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 316 FPS, which is 27.4% higher than the 4K High result of 159 FPS. This suggests that 1080p High is well within the system's comfortable operating range for high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Are there any recorded minimum FPS values that indicate stuttering?

A: Only the Medium settings rows include minimum FPS values: 301 at 1080p, 227 at 1440p, and 152 at 4K. These minimums are all substantially above 60 FPS, indicating smooth frame delivery without significant drops.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2617 MHz and 10,752 shading units provide substantial compute throughput, with FP32 performance rated at 56.28 TFLOPS. These specifications explain why the GPU can maintain high frame rates even at 4K Ultra, where the 141 FPS result demonstrates that the memory bandwidth and shader capacity are sufficient for this game's demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8,637 and PassMark G3D score of 36,565 place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 8060S (0.6% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.7% ahead), and AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (2.3% ahead), while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE trails by 2.2%. These small deltas indicate that the RTX 5080 sits in a competitive performance band, yet in Dave The Diver, the measured FPS shows the GPU delivering well above the 60 FPS threshold at all settings and resolutions.

The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Dave The Diver, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across settings without any indication of memory-related stuttering. The 960.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and scene complexity at 4K Ultra do not create bottlenecks. The GPU's 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores are not heavily utilized in this game, but their presence ensures compatibility with any DirectX 12 Ultimate features that might be enabled.

At 4K Medium, the GPU produces 179 FPS with a minimum of 152 FPS, showing that even the most demanding pixel counts are handled with headroom. The transition from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 38 FPS (from 179 to 141), which is a 21.2% reduction — a relatively modest penalty for the visual quality increase, suggesting that the GPU's shading units are not fully saturated by this game's effects.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 4K High, the system delivers 159 FPS — 12.8% higher than Ultra's 141 FPS — while providing most of the visual benefits. At 1440p High, the 238 FPS result is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate display, and at 1080p High, 316 FPS leaves ample headroom.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 179 FPS (with a minimum of 152 FPS) offers a compelling alternative if frame rate consistency is prioritized over maximum fidelity. The step from Medium to High at 4K costs only 20 FPS (from 179 to 159), while the step from High to Ultra costs 18 FPS (from 159 to 141). This suggests that High is the sweet spot, as it captures most of the visual improvements over Medium while avoiding the steepest performance penalty of Ultra.

At 1440p, the Low preset's 318 FPS is only relevant for extreme refresh rates (likely 360 Hz or higher), while High at 238 FPS and Ultra at 210 FPS both provide excellent experiences. The 1080p results are all above 279 FPS, meaning even Ultra at 1080p is suitable for the fastest gaming monitors. The data supports choosing High as the default recommendation, with Ultra reserved for users who prioritize image quality over the already-abundant frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance scales from 213 FPS at Low to 179 FPS at Medium (with a minimum of 152 and maximum of 205), then 159 FPS at High, and finally 141 FPS at Ultra. The Medium settings row is the only 4K measurement with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a 53 FPS range between the lowest and highest frames.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are 318 FPS at Low, 266 FPS at Medium (minimum 227, maximum 306), 238 FPS at High, and 210 FPS at Ultra. The Medium range at 1440p spans 79 FPS, indicating slightly more variability at this resolution compared to 4K Medium's 53 FPS range.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 423 FPS at Low, 354 FPS at Medium (minimum 301, maximum 407), 316 FPS at High, and 279 FPS at Ultra. The Medium range at 1080p is 106 FPS, showing the widest variability of any resolution tested, likely due to the CPU and GPU trading off as the limiting factor at this lower pixel count.

Comparing settings across resolutions, the Low preset shows the largest resolution-based spread: 423 FPS at 1080p versus 213 FPS at 4K, a 49.6% reduction. Ultra settings show a similar proportional drop: 279 FPS at 1080p versus 141 FPS at 4K, a 49.5% reduction. This consistency suggests that the game's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, regardless of the quality preset chosen.