Choosing a capable antivirus is never easy, unless your pre-built PC or laptop comes with a good paid product pre-installed.
For those looking for free antivirus solutions however, finding efficient and non-intrusive software can be a daunting task.
Gamers in particular benefit greatly from non-intrusive, lightweight, antivirus software which uses less memory and does not limit performance.
GeckoandFly has tested the resource consumption of a number of antivirus solutions in order to determine which are suitable for gamers or performance enthusiasts.
Below is a list of ten antivirus programs along with their memory usage (smaller is better) and scan speed (bigger is better):
|
Antivirus
|
Memory Usage
|
Scan Speed
|
|---|---|---|
| Avast | 6.6MB | 20.0MB/s |
| Panda | 9.8MB | 16.4MB/s |
| Norton | 9.9MB | 36.3MB/s |
| BitDefender | 15.7MB | 35.9MB/s |
| Avira | 22.9MB | 35.7MB/s |
| Kapersky | 23.0MB | 34.4MB/s |
| AVG | 29.6MB | 32.4MB/s |
| Trend Titanium | 42.2MB | 27.2MB/s |
| F-Secure | 42.6MB | 23.1MB/s |
| McAfee | 53.2MB | 27.9MB/s |
Windows Defender
Although it’s not exactly free, it is bundled with the operating system used by most gamers, Windows 10.
Windows Defender is a built-in antivirus which does a decent job of protecting against basic threats while remaining totally non-intrusive and lightweight.
The software is capable enough that if you are very careful about your system’s threat vulnerability, you might be able to get by without a standalone antivirus.
Avast
Avast is one of the most popular free antiviruses on the market, and is both lightweight and effective.
It is one of the least intrusive solutions on the market, although it does occasionally deliver popups regarding upgrade opportunities.
BitDefender
BitDefender Free Antivirus is a stripped-down version of the paid product and is one most non-intrusive free programs on the market.
Despite its bare-bones functionality, it is both efficient and relatively fast.
Panda Free
Panda is a capable free antivirus solution which is very effective at eliminating threats.
It is a reliable free product that is lightweight and not as intrusive as most free antivirus software.
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Nobody that values security and privacy uses a free solution. AVG and Avast merged and they also formed the one of the largest data mining firms in the world. You’d be insane to use either of those. Also using Windows Defender is absolutely RECKLESS, it’s trash.. Get Dr. Web.