Dave The Diver

# Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Dave The Diver with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reveals a clear and consistent pattern as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 255 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings, the average drops to 192 FPS, a reduction of 63 FPS or roughly 24.7%. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 128 FPS, another 64 FPS drop from 1440p, or about 33.3% lower. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as pixel count rises, but the absolute frame rates remain exceptionally high at every resolution.

The Low settings preset shows the most dramatic resolution sensitivity. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 341 FPS average. At 1440p Low, it drops to 256 FPS, a 25% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 172 FPS, which is 32.8% lower than 1440p and roughly half of the 1080p figure. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K at Low settings suggests that even with reduced graphical load, the RTX 5070's rendering throughput is being stretched by the 4K pixel count, while at 1080p the CPU is likely holding the frame rate back from going even higher.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly different magnitudes. From 1080p Medium at 285 FPS average to 1440p Medium at 215 FPS, the drop is 70 FPS or 24.6%. From 1440p to 4K Medium, the average goes from 215 to 144 FPS, a 71 FPS or 33.0% reduction. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets — roughly 24-25% from 1080p to 1440p and 33% from 1440p to 4K — indicates that resolution scaling is largely independent of the specific settings preset chosen. This is characteristic of a game where the rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count.

Ultra settings produce the lowest absolute frame rates but the same relative scaling pattern. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 225 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 169 FPS, a 24.9% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the average is 113 FPS, which is 33.1% lower than 1440p. The fact that even the most demanding preset at 4K still maintains an average above 110 FPS demonstrates that this hardware combination is far from being overwhelmed by Dave The Diver's rendering demands, regardless of resolution.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the relatively small gap between Low and Ultra settings — 341 FPS versus 225 FPS — points to CPU involvement in capping the maximum frame rate. At 4K, the wider spread between presets — 172 FPS Low versus 113 FPS Ultra — indicates the GPU is doing more of the heavy lifting and its performance ceiling is the primary constraint. This interpretation is supported by the CPU's strong multi-threaded benchmark scores and the GPU's position in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 brings 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates with a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz or 28 Gbps effective. These specifications place the card in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 40377. The nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark rankings include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at a 0.1% delta, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 0.8%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at -1.2%, indicating the RTX 5070 sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In the context of Dave The Diver's measured results, the GPU's 12 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for the game's demands at all tested resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra preset, which would be the most memory-intensive configuration, still achieves 113 FPS average, so there is no evidence of VRAM capacity being a bottleneck. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s appears adequate for the game's texture streaming and rendering needs, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across settings presets.

The clock speeds of the RTX 5070 play a meaningful role in the observed performance. The boost clock of 2512 MHz allows the GPU to sustain high throughput in a game like Dave The Diver, which does not appear to be exceptionally demanding on GPU resources. The relatively small performance deltas between Low and Ultra settings at 4K — 172 FPS versus 113 FPS — suggest that the GPU's shading units and texture units are not being saturated even at the highest settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is larger in percentage terms, but this is likely because the CPU becomes more influential at lower resolutions.

The GPU's architectural features, including 6144 shading units and 192 texture mapping units, provide ample raw compute for this title. The pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s indicate the card can handle high fill-rate demands, which is relevant for a game with detailed 2D-style art and water effects. The measured frame rates at 4K Medium, with a minimum of 122 FPS and maximum of 165 FPS, show that the GPU maintains consistent performance without significant frame time spikes, even under moderate load.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. In the database's CPU benchmarks, the Ultra 7 265 achieves an average score of 64640, placing it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs.

The nearest rivals to the Ultra 7 265 in CPU benchmarks are the AMD EPYC 4464P at -0.3% delta, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F at 0.3%, the AMD EPYC 7343 at 0.7%, and the AMD EPYC 9124 at -0.7%. These extremely small deltas — all within 1% of each other — indicate that the Ultra 7 265 sits in a performance tier where small variations in benchmark conditions can shuffle the ranking. The CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, is particularly relevant for Dave The Diver, which is not a heavily multi-threaded title.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p where frame rates reach 341 FPS on Low settings. At such high frame rates, the CPU's ability to feed the GPU and process game logic becomes critical. The 20 cores and 20 threads provide ample parallelism for background tasks, but the game's main thread likely benefits most from the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 shows strong overall throughput, while the single-core score of 5960 indicates the processor can handle single-threaded workloads efficiently.

The CPU's memory subsystem, with dual-channel DDR5 support and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth, provides sufficient data throughput for the game's world streaming and entity management. The 30 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data, which can improve frame pacing in scenes with many interactive elements. The measured FPS minimums at Medium settings — 242 FPS at 1080p, 182 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K — show that even in the most demanding moments, the CPU maintains enough headroom to avoid significant frame drops.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, combined with the game's relatively modest computational requirements, means the processor is unlikely to be the limiting factor at 1440p or 4K. However, at 1080p with Low settings, the 341 FPS average approaches the practical limit for many display refresh rates, and the CPU's performance ceiling becomes more relevant. The benchmark data suggests the Ultra 7 265 provides a strong foundation for this game, with enough single-thread performance to keep up with the RTX 5070's output at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates span a wide range across settings. Low settings produce the highest average at 341 FPS, followed by Medium at 285 FPS with a minimum of 242 FPS and maximum of 328 FPS. High settings average 255 FPS, and Ultra settings average 225 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 116 FPS, or approximately 34% of the Low preset's average. This spread indicates that the settings presets have a substantial impact on frame rate at this resolution, but even the most demanding preset stays well above 200 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected reduction from 1080p. The Low preset averages 256 FPS, while Medium averages 215 FPS with a minimum of 182 FPS and maximum of 247 FPS. High settings average 192 FPS, and Ultra settings average 169 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 87 FPS, or about 34% of the Low preset's average, which is nearly identical to the percentage spread at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the settings presets affect rendering workload proportionally across these two resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop further but remain highly playable. The Low preset averages 172 FPS, Medium averages 144 FPS with a minimum of 122 FPS and maximum of 165 FPS, High averages 128 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 59 FPS, or about 34% of the Low preset's average, matching the pattern seen at lower resolutions. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium of 122 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not dip below 120 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one that includes minimum and maximum FPS data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 242 to 328 FPS, providing a 86 FPS spread. At 1440p, the range narrows slightly to 182 to 247 FPS, a 65 FPS spread. At 4K, the range is 122 to 165 FPS, a 43 FPS spread. This narrowing of the frame rate range as resolution increases suggests that the GPU's consistent frame delivery becomes more dominant, while CPU-related frame time variability is less pronounced at higher resolutions where the GPU takes longer per frame.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Dave The Diver?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 341 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 256 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it is 172 FPS.

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 bottleneck the RTX 5070 at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the CPU may have a limiting influence at 1080p, where the gap between Low and Ultra settings is 116 FPS. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, as evidenced by the consistent 33% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 40377, with the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 0.1% higher, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 at 0.8% higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 1.2% lower. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is 2% lower.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS recorded is 122, with a maximum of 165 and an average of 144.

Q: Is the CPU's multi-core performance relevant for this game?

A: Dave The Diver appears to benefit more from single-thread performance, as the CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 and PassMark single-thread score of 4689 indicate strong single-thread capability. The multi-core score of 42216 in Cinebench R23 is less directly relevant but still contributes to overall system responsiveness.

Q: What percentile does the RTX 5070 rank among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5070 ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 40377.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average of 285 FPS with a minimum of 242 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even in scenes with many on-screen elements. At 1440p Medium, the 215 FPS average and 182 FPS minimum provide a comfortable margin above typical high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K Medium, the 144 FPS average and 122 FPS minimum remain well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play, making this preset viable even at the highest resolution.

The High preset is a reasonable alternative for users who prefer slightly better visual fidelity. At 1080p High, the average of 255 FPS is still exceptionally high, and at 1440p High, the 192 FPS average comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 128 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for frame rate fluctuations compared to Medium.

The Ultra preset provides the best visual quality but with diminishing returns in frame rate. At 1080p Ultra, the 225 FPS average is still high, but at 1440p Ultra, the 169 FPS average approaches the limits of 165 Hz displays, and at 4K Ultra, the 113 FPS average may cause noticeable dips on displays with higher refresh rates. The Low preset offers the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality, which is unnecessary given that even the Medium preset maintains excellent performance at all resolutions.

For users with 1080p displays, the High preset at 255 FPS average is recommended as it balances visual quality with performance that exceeds any current display's refresh rate. For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 215 FPS average provides the best combination of quality and headroom, while the High preset at 192 FPS is also suitable for 144 Hz panels. For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 144 FPS average is the recommended choice, as it maintains frame rates above 120 FPS while offering better visual fidelity than Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 521st out of 2867 tested combos in Dave The Diver, placing it in the top 18.2% of all configurations tested. This ranking reflects the strong performance of both components, with the CPU in the 93rd percentile and the GPU in the 82nd percentile of their respective categories. The combo's position in the database indicates that it outperforms the majority of tested systems in this game, though there are many higher-ranked configurations.

The CPU's benchmark performance, with an average score of 64640, is within 0.7% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD EPYC 7343 and the AMD EPYC 9124. This tight clustering suggests that the Ultra 7 265's performance in Dave The Diver is representative of its position in the broader CPU benchmark hierarchy. The GPU's average benchmark score of 40377 places it close to professional-grade workstation cards like the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and Radeon Pro WX 7100, indicating that the RTX 5070's gaming performance translates well to this title.

The combination's ranking at 521 out of 2867 is notable given that the RTX 5070 is not positioned at the very top of the GPU hierarchy. The fact that this combo achieves frame rates above 100 FPS at 4K Ultra settings demonstrates that Dave The Diver is not an exceptionally demanding game, allowing mid-to-high-range hardware to perform well. The measured data shows that the combo's performance is limited more by the GPU than the CPU, particularly at higher resolutions where the 12 GB VRAM and 192-bit memory interface of the RTX 5070 become more significant factors.

The ranking also reflects the balance between the two components. The Ultra 7 265's strong single-thread performance and the RTX 5070's high throughput create a system that can handle the game's requirements without either component becoming a significant bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU's performance ceiling is approached at Low settings, while at 4K, the GPU's rendering capacity is the primary constraint. This balance contributes to the combo's favorable position in the overall rankings, as it delivers consistently high frame rates across all tested configurations.