The best antivirus software for PC games in 2021
The best game antivirus software can effectively protect your gaming PC from hackers and malicious software, and it will do so while running silently in the background, with minimal impact on your gaming experience. Just like professional bodyguards, the best antivirus software should be able to provide protection without reminding you that you are alive; pop-up windows in games are never welcome, but many antivirus kits seem to be designed without consideration Ordinary game player.
Most of today’s large antivirus suites are aware of and committed to preventing this potential nuisance in the form of a certain game mode. Therefore, unless something catastrophic requires your attention, they should remain silent. Compared with the past, important tools such as these are also easier to use in terms of system resources, at least the best tools we listed here are.
Cyber attacks are no joke, and they are developing at an alarming rate. With cunning pop-up ads, process injections, phishing emails, and malware waiting for raids under the guise of various seemingly trustworthy websites, it pays to double the protection of your system.
We have reviewed all major antivirus programs and have compiled this outline, outlining the ones we recommend to protect your gaming PC. None are very expensive, and there are even some free options if you want to save some money.
Although there are many powerful antivirus applications on the market, the best gaming antivirus software should work without affecting your performance or being too disruptive in your daily use. The reason why Bitdefender is so good is that once installed, it immediately enters the autopilot mode. Autopilot will make all security-related decisions for you based on your usage patterns, so you will not be bombarded by alerts and notifications. But don’t worry; if you want it, you still have a lot of control.
One of our favorite features of Bitdefender is that it can scan for any active vulnerabilities: whether it is outdated software, missing Windows updates, or bad passwords, it will show up in an easy-to-read report. If your child uses your PC, it has its own VPN and improved parental controls. We rarely see antivirus programs go further like Bitdefender.
Like most antivirus programs, Bitdefender’s pricing structure is based on the number of years you want coverage for 5 or 10 devices.
Although we like Bitdefender, there are other powerful security suites. Kaspersky Internet Security is one of them. In this case, we recommend paying an additional $10 for Kaspersky Total Security, which is a more substantial package that contains some convenient utilities, not just fluff.
Among the extra goodies, there is a file shredder, which can overwrite deleted files. As a result, they are almost impossible to recover, being able to create encrypted folders to prevent sensitive files from being snooped, synchronizing passwords between multiple devices, and PC cleaning tools, to name a few. You can find free alternatives to all of these, but it’s convenient to keep them all in one place.
We like Kaspersky because it consistently performs well in identifying and blocking malware and has minimal impact on system performance. This is not to say that it is perfect-we remember a particularly annoying incident when Kaspersky let a potentially unwanted program (PUP) lock our mouse cursor in a box. Solving the problem requires some persistence (and safety mode). However, in most cases, Kaspersky does an excellent job of protecting PCs. Even in rare cases, we will encounter problems, but they are relatively small.
Currently, new customers of Kaspersky can also enjoy a half price discount, so you can get Three PCs are guaranteed for one year US$29.99.
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McAfee has always been a well-known brand in the field of antivirus. Chances are, if you bought a PC in the early 2000s, it would have McAfee antivirus software pre-installed. Fast forward to today, McAfee has made an anti-virus software specifically for games. It simplifies the process and gives you peace of mind because you know you can still play Apex Legends without getting into trouble with security-related pop-up notifications.
McAfee player safety Knowing when you are playing the game, it will stop anything running in the background while you are playing. It makes the game a priority for system resources, mutes notifications, and anything else that will disturb your fun. This is useful for people who want to know they are protected from all common online bad actors but don’t want to modify any settings. McAfee Gamer Security does it all for you.
SecureAnywhere was and is still a significant outlier in AV. It only takes up a few megabytes of disk space and uses about 5MB of RAM when idle. Task Manager shows that SecureAnywhere uses about 50MB of RAM and less than 15% CPU utilization during active scanning, but scanning 150GB of data distributed on two SSDs only takes a few minutes.
Webroot also made a special version of SecureAnywhere for gamers. The difference between it and the normal version is that it provides a system optimizer tool that can “analyze your device and operating system to detect system problems, clear all traces of online activities, and make deleted files irrecoverable”. In practice, we only see it delete temporary files to free up some disk space. SecureAnywhere also stays in the background politely, so you won’t be bothered by updates or added delays while playing the game.
Because it is cloud-based, SecureAnywhere works best when there is an Internet connection. In the era of ubiquitous broadband, this is not a problem for many people, especially gamers. And, while SecureAnywhere is lightweight and has short local storage requirements, its adjustable settings are surprisingly high. There are more than 100 of them, and you can export your settings for quick and easy setup on another PC.In terms of pricing, Webroot is currently $19.99 a year for a single device (Ignore the countdown, it is always that price).
Due to the level of customization available, we chose Avira as our free option. Whether you want to enter the software’s menu and start fiddling with the knobs and dials is up to you, but if you decide to adjust Avira’s behavior, you will find a modest toolbox option. One setting we strongly recommend to enable is to search for rootkits before scanning. It will increase the scanning time, but rootkits are particularly annoying in how to penetrate the operating system, so it is best to make mistakes in security.
You can also configure Avira to scan the aggressiveness of zero-day threats through heuristic analysis. The default setting is medium detection level. Adjusting it higher will put Avira in a particularly cautious state, but there is also the risk of reporting false positives. Setting it to low will have the opposite effect, or you can turn off heuristic analysis altogether, which is not recommended.
The feature that the free version of Avira does not have is the game mode.Although Avira does not cost money, You pay through annoying ads. This is the advantage of the free version of BitDefender. In contrast, it does not use advertisements, does not annoy users with pop-up windows, and pauses system scans while you are playing games. This is an easy solution, although the disadvantage is that there are not many options, only a few on/off switches.
What game features should the best antivirus software have?
The best antivirus software is more reliable than anything else, but the best gaming antivirus software will ensure your gaming PC is safe without interrupting your gaming session. It should also reduce system load, although this is not always an easy task.
Is Windows Defender enough to play games?
Normally, you can get out of trouble just by running Windows Defender, but it also requires a lot of common sense. Remember to only download games from trusted sites and avoid clicking random links. If you are skeptical, it is worth spending a little money to buy an antivirus solution to give you more peace of mind.
Will running antivirus software reduce FPS?
The best antivirus software makes no obvious difference, especially if it is just ticking in the background. However, running a scan may be another matter, so we recommend that you scan outside of game time.