Dave The Diver

# Dave The Diver with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers exceptional performance in Dave The Diver, ranking 146th out of 2,867 tested combos—placing it in the top 5.1% of all configurations measured. The pairing produces triple-digit frame rates even at 4K Ultra settings, making it one of the most capable setups for this adventure title in the benchmark database. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the CPU's substantial 24-core/24-thread configuration providing ample headroom for the game's physics and simulation workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 146 out of 2,867 tested combinations places it firmly in the upper echelon of systems tested for Dave The Diver. This percentile positioning reflects the raw strength of both components working in concert. The CPU itself sits at the 96th percentile against all processors tested across the entire benchmark suite, with an average benchmark score of 84,003. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, posts an average score of 83,807—a delta of just 0.2%, indicating the 290K Plus is essentially matched with its predecessor in synthetic workloads. The AMD EPYC 4584PX trails by 1.1% at 83,090, while the AMD EPYC 9135 sits 1.2% behind at 82,980. Interestingly, the AMD EPYC 7F72 actually outperforms the 290K Plus by 1.3%, scoring 85,072, which suggests the Ultra 9 is not the absolute pinnacle of synthetic CPU performance but remains within striking distance of the top.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5080 holds the 87th percentile against all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 56,083. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, scores 55,757—a delta of 0.6%, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 0.7% behind at 55,698. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X lags by 2.3% at 54,828, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE actually leads the 5080 by 2.2% with a score of 57,367. These tight margins in synthetic benchmarks belie the 5080's commanding performance in actual gameplay, where its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960 GB/s bandwidth prove decisive in Dave The Diver's detailed underwater environments.

The rank of 146 out of 2,867 is particularly noteworthy because it represents a real-world gaming configuration rather than a theoretical maximum. The data indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, with only 145 combinations achieving higher frame rates in this specific title. The combination's strength lies in its balance: the CPU's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303) and the GPU's raw rasterization power (PassMark G3D score of 36,565) complement each other without creating a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 serves as the primary driver of frame rates in Dave The Diver, particularly at higher resolutions. The card features 10,752 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation processors, delivering a pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s. Its FP32 throughput of 56.28 TFLOPS provides ample compute headroom for the game's water physics and lighting calculations.

The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves critical for the game's high-resolution textures and detailed environments. At 4K Ultra settings, the card maintains an average of 141 FPS, demonstrating that even the most demanding preset fails to stress the memory subsystem to its limits. The memory clock runs at 1875 MHz (30 Gbps effective), and the base clock of 2295 MHz boosts to 2617 MHz under load—figures that align with the performance observed across all measured settings.

The RTX 5080's 84 ray tracing cores and 336 tensor cores are present but play a minimal role in Dave The Diver, which is not a ray tracing-heavy title. The card's PassMark DirectX 12 score of 151 and DirectX 11 score of 324 reflect its API efficiency, though these synthetic numbers are less informative than the actual frame rate measurements. The GPU's 87th percentile ranking against all graphics cards suggests it sits comfortably above the median, but its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Radeon 8060S and RX 6750 GRE 12 GB—are much closer on paper than they are in this game's real-world results.

The 5080's 5 nm process node from TSMC, housing 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, contributes to its efficiency and thermal characteristics. The card's dual-slot design and single 16-pin power connector make it a straightforward installation in most modern cases, with a suggested PSU of 750 W providing adequate headroom. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures no bandwidth limitations, and the display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1b) support high refresh rate monitors at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combination achieves 423 FPS on Low settings, 354 FPS on Medium, 316 FPS on High, and 279 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 1440p, those figures drop to 318 FPS (Low), 266 FPS (Medium), 238 FPS (High), and 210 FPS (Ultra). At 4K, the numbers settle at 213 FPS (Low), 179 FPS (Medium), 159 FPS (High), and 141 FPS (Ultra).

The resolution scaling indicates a GPU-bound scenario across all settings. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drop across all settings is approximately 24.9%—from 343 FPS average at 1080p to 258 FPS at 1440p. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more pronounced at 30.6%, falling to 173 FPS average. This pattern is consistent with a graphics card that becomes increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, rather than a CPU limitation that would manifest as a plateau at lower resolutions.

The Low preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 423 FPS at 1080p dropping to 213 FPS at 4K—a 49.6% reduction. This larger percentage drop at Low settings suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU even at extremely high frame rates, and the GPU's workload scales predictably with resolution. Conversely, the Ultra preset shows a smaller relative drop from 279 FPS at 1080p to 141 FPS at 4K—a 49.5% decrease, indicating that the GPU is consistently the limiting factor regardless of settings.

The Medium preset provides the only complete FPS data with min/max values across all resolutions. At 1080p, the range spans 301–407 FPS; at 1440p, 227–306 FPS; and at 4K, 152–205 FPS. The narrowing of the min-max spread at higher resolutions—from a 106 FPS delta at 1080p to a 53 FPS delta at 4K—indicates that frame pacing becomes more consistent as the GPU approaches its saturation point. This data suggests that players seeking the most stable experience should target higher resolutions where the frame time variance is reduced.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Dave The Diver?

A: The data shows playable frame rates at all tested resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 141 FPS, which exceeds typical 120Hz display refresh rates. At 1440p Ultra, it reaches 210 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, 279 FPS. The 4K Medium preset delivers 179 FPS with a min of 152 FPS, making it the highest-resolution option that maintains a 150+ FPS floor.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 56,083 places it 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X trails by 2.3% at 54,828, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE leads by 2.2% at 57,367. These synthetic deltas are minor, but the 5080's 16 GB GDDR7 memory provides substantial bandwidth advantages in gaming workloads.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests minimal CPU bottlenecking. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 423 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate. The CPU's Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303 and multi-core score of 51,731 indicate strong processing capability. The 24-core/24-thread configuration with a 5.80 GHz boost clock provides sufficient single-thread performance for the game's simulation logic.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, Low settings average 213 FPS while Ultra settings average 141 FPS—a difference of 72 FPS or 33.8%. Medium settings (179 FPS) and High settings (159 FPS) fill the gap, with the Medium preset offering the best balance of visual quality and frame rate headroom.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to the 285K?

A: The 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84,003, which is 0.2% higher than the 285K's 83,807. This near-identical performance suggests the two processors are effectively interchangeable in gaming workloads. The 290K Plus features 24 cores and 24 threads with a 3.70 GHz base clock and 5.80 GHz boost clock.

Q: Is this combo suitable for high refresh rate gaming?

A: Yes. At 1080p, the combo exceeds 279 FPS on all settings. At 1440p, it stays above 210 FPS even on Ultra. At 4K, it maintains 141+ FPS on all presets. These figures support 240Hz displays at 1080p and 1440p, and 144Hz displays at 4K, making the combination suitable for competitive and high-refresh-rate gaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides the computational foundation for this combo, featuring 24 cores and 24 threads based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Built on a 3 nm process node from TSMC with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die, the processor operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts up to 5.80 GHz. This clock headroom is critical for Dave The Diver, which relies on single-thread performance for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 cache per core, 3 MB of L2 cache per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides fast access to frequently used data, reducing latency in gameplay scenarios. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures the processor can feed data to the GPU without creating a bottleneck, though the game's performance data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at all tested resolutions.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 290K Plus demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and single-core score of 7,303 highlight a balanced architecture that excels in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. The PassMark multi-thread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 further confirm this balance. The processor's 96th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84,003, places it among the fastest desktop processors available.

The CPU's role in Dave The Diver becomes apparent when examining frame rates at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 423 FPS. This extreme frame rate requires the CPU to maintain high draw call throughput and game state updates. The 3 nm process node and 5.80 GHz boost clock enable the single-thread performance necessary to sustain these frame rates without becoming the limiting factor. The processor's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1851 compatibility make it a straightforward upgrade for users with compatible motherboards.

The 290K Plus's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the 285K (0.2% higher score), EPYC 4584PX (1.1% lower), EPYC 9135 (1.2% lower), and EPYC 7F72 (1.3% higher)—all fall within a narrow performance band. This indicates that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's gaming performance; rather, the RTX 5080's graphics capabilities drive the observed frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data across all three resolutions and four settings presets provides clear guidance for optimizing the gameplay experience. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 141 FPS average, which exceeds the native refresh rate of most 4K monitors (typically 60–144 Hz). However, the Medium preset at 4K offers 179 FPS with a minimum of 152 FPS, providing a 38 FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining a frame rate floor above 150 FPS. This makes the 4K Medium preset the recommended choice for players with high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset achieves 210 FPS, which is sufficient for 240Hz displays. The High preset at 238 FPS provides additional headroom without a significant visual sacrifice, while the Medium preset at 266 FPS (min 227 FPS) offers the best combination of visual quality and frame rate stability. For competitive play where maximum frame rate is prioritized, the Low preset at 318 FPS provides the highest possible performance, though the visual trade-offs may be noticeable in the game's detailed underwater environments.

The 1080p resolution presents an interesting scenario where all presets exceed 279 FPS. The Ultra preset at 279 FPS is more than sufficient for any current display, making it the obvious choice for 1080p users. The Medium preset at 354 FPS (min 301 FPS) offers a substantial frame rate buffer for those using 360Hz monitors, while the Low preset at 423 FPS is likely beyond the refresh rate capabilities of any available display.

The data suggests that the Medium preset provides the most consistent experience across all resolutions, as evidenced by the complete min/max data available for this setting. The frame time variance at Medium is tighter than at other presets, with the 4K Medium showing a 152–205 FPS range compared to the wider spreads observed at other settings. For players seeking a balance between visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 1440p or 4K offers the optimal experience, delivering frame rates well above typical display refresh rates while maintaining detailed graphics. The Ultra preset remains viable at all resolutions, though the 141 FPS at 4K Ultra may require a high-refresh-rate display to fully utilize the combo's capabilities.