Dave The Diver

Dave The Diver is not a typical stress test for high-end hardware, but the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination reveals a system that is dramatically overqualified for the task, delivering frame rates that are consistently in the triple digits even at 4K resolution. The benchmark results indicate a pairing where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures that even the lowest preset at 1080p does not become CPU-limited. This analysis breaks down the scaling, component roles, and optimal settings based strictly on the measured FPS data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, confirming that the RTX 3080 is the limiting factor as pixel count rises. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 306 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 230 FPS, a reduction of 76 FPS, and then to 4K Low, the average falls to 154 FPS. This progression demonstrates that the GPU's rendering load is scaling almost linearly with the number of pixels, a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not the constraint here, as the frame rates remain astronomically high even at the lowest resolution.

The gap between resolutions widens as settings increase, further emphasizing the GPU's role. At Ultra settings, the 1080p average is 202 FPS, which drops to 152 FPS at 1440p and then to 102 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is exactly 100 FPS, while at Low settings the difference is 152 FPS. This suggests that while the absolute FPS drop is larger at lower settings, the percentage drop is more severe at higher settings, as the GPU is already working harder. The data shows that the transition from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing than the jump from 1440p to 4K, which is typical for modern GPUs where memory bandwidth and fill rate become increasingly critical at higher resolutions.

The scaling also indicates that the Core Ultra 5 245 has ample headroom. The fact that 1080p Low produces 306 FPS and 1080p Medium produces 256 FPS, with no sign of a CPU plateau, suggests that the processor is not the limiting component in any of the tested configurations. The 14-core, 14-thread design, with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 3080 even in this light workload. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see the FPS at 1080p Low and 1080p High to be much closer together, as the GPU would be waiting on the CPU. Instead, the data shows a 78 FPS difference between those two points, indicating the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth are key to its performance in Dave The Diver. The game's art style, while not photorealistic, still requires substantial memory bandwidth to stream textures and render the underwater environments at high resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 102 FPS, which reflects the GPU's raw compute power (29.77 TFLOPS FP32) and its 8704 shading units. The boost clock of 1710 MHz is not particularly high, but the sheer number of cores allows it to maintain high throughput.

The memory configuration is also crucial. With only 10 GB of VRAM, there is a potential concern for future titles, but for Dave The Diver, the measured results show no such limitation. The fact that 4K Ultra yields 102 FPS and 4K High yields 115 FPS suggests that the game is not exceeding the VRAM buffer at these settings. If it were, we would expect to see a significant performance cliff due to memory swapping. Instead, the scaling from High to Ultra at 4K is a modest 13 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU's compute units, not its memory capacity, are the primary bottleneck. The GPU's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but are likely not heavily utilized in this non-ray-traced title, making the traditional rasterization performance the deciding factor.

The RTX 3080's position in the market is also reflected in the data. It holds a percentile rank of 68 among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 23172 places it near the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon RX 6600M, according to the nearest rivals data. However, in this game, its performance is exceptional, suggesting that Dave The Diver is not a demanding title for high-end hardware. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface are more than adequate for this game, and the data shows no signs of interface bottlenecking.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Dave The Diver at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average of 102 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

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

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 202 at 1920x1080 to 102 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 100 FPS. At Low settings, the drop is more severe, going from 306 FPS to 154 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a bottleneck for the RTX 3080 in this game?

A: No. The data shows that the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures it can keep up with the GPU's output.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset produces an average of 193 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 152 FPS. This is a 41 FPS difference, which is a significant but manageable trade-off for visual fidelity.

Q: Does the 10 GB VRAM on the RTX 3080 cause any issues in this game?

A: The measured data does not indicate any VRAM-related performance issues. The frame rates remain high and stable, with no evidence of a performance cliff that would result from memory capacity limitations.

Q: Is this a good combo for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo achieves 172 FPS, and even at Ultra settings, it maintains 152 FPS, which is suitable for 144Hz and 165Hz displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 306 FPS. The Medium preset produces an average of 256 FPS, with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 294 FPS. The High preset achieves an average of 228 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers an average of 202 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 230 FPS. The Medium preset averages 193 FPS, with a minimum of 164 FPS and a maximum of 221 FPS. The High preset averages 172 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 152 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 154 FPS. The Medium preset averages 129 FPS, with a minimum of 110 FPS and a maximum of 148 FPS. The High preset averages 115 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 102 FPS.

These numbers reveal that the combo is capable of delivering a playable experience at every resolution and setting combination tested. The minimum FPS values, where available, show that the frame pacing is consistent. For instance, at 4K Medium, the minimum is 110 FPS, which is still far above the threshold for stutter. The lack of a minimum FPS value for other presets suggests that the frame times were stable enough not to warrant reporting, indicating a smooth experience across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Dave The Diver, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 holds a rank of 751 out of 2867 tested combos. This places it in the top 26% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU and a previous-generation high-end GPU. The rank is likely influenced by the extremely high frame rates at lower resolutions, which push the average performance up. However, the ranking also reflects that there are many other combos with more powerful GPUs that can achieve even higher frame rates at 4K.

The CPU's percentile rank of 90 among all CPUs, combined with the GPU's percentile rank of 68, suggests that the processor is actually the stronger component in this pairing relative to its peers. This is an interesting inversion, as the GPU is often the more expensive and higher-performing part. The combo's rank of 751 indicates that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is far above average and more than capable of delivering a premium experience in this game. The nearest rival CPUs, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and Intel Core i5-14600K, have very similar average benchmark scores, with deltas of -0.5% and +0.8% respectively, which confirms that the Core Ultra 5 245 is a competitive processor in its class.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's display and performance targets. For 1080p and 1440p displays with high refresh rates, the High preset is the recommended choice. At 1080p, High yields 228 FPS, which is more than enough for any monitor, while at 1440p, High produces 172 FPS, which is ideal for 165Hz panels. The jump to Ultra provides diminishing returns, costing 26 FPS at 1080p and 20 FPS at 1440p, for what is likely a minor visual improvement in a game with a stylized art direction.

For 4K displays, the High preset is again the sweet spot, delivering 115 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides headroom for VRR displays. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 102 FPS, which is still playable, but the 13 FPS loss is not worth the extra visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 4K offers 129 FPS, but the visual quality reduction from High to Medium is more noticeable than from High to Ultra in most games. Therefore, the data suggests that High is the best balance of performance and image quality across all resolutions for this combo.

If the user has a 240Hz or 360Hz monitor and prioritizes maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p with 306 FPS is the only option that can fully saturate such displays. However, for the vast majority of users, the High preset provides an excellent experience without any compromises. The measured data indicates that this combo is essentially never CPU-limited, so users can adjust settings freely without worrying about introducing a CPU bottleneck.