Does antivirus software still slow down your PC in 2026? We tested the top security software to find out
We put modern security suites to the test across synthetic benchmarks and demanding PC games to see if the age-old PC slowdown myth still holds true.
Antivirus software used to significantly slow down PCs in the past, but advancements in technology have made modern security suites much less resource-intensive. To test this, a recent study ran both quick and full scans while playing graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5. Bitdefender showed minimal impact on performance, with only a 3% drop in frame rate during a full scan, while Malwarebytes experienced the most significant performance hit at 13.7%.
Forza Horizon 5 also showed negligible impact from Avast, Bitdefender, and Norton 360, but McAfee experienced a 15.9% performance penalty during full scans. Overall, leaving antivirus software enabled while gaming is no longer a necessary compromise in performance.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Guide's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
