Can you have lightning fast speed and still be protected? Chillblast puts it to the test!
LONDON, AUGUST 8th, 2018 – Multi-award winning cybersecurity company, BullGuard, was recently proven to be the fastest Antivirus solution for PC for gamers according to tests carried out by Chillblast, an award-winning builder of custom PCs, gaming desktops and gaming laptops.
Not only did BullGuard come out on top in 3DMark and F1 2017-based benchmarking, it also delivered better FPS performance than computers with no AV software. BullGuard doesn’t just reduce the impact of antivirus on your games - it actually speeds them up.
This rival-beating performance is thanks to BullGuard’s patent-pending Game Booster, which optimises CPU performance for noticeably smoother gaming with a faster frame rate and no game lag. BullGuard’s Game Booster automatically detects users’ gaming sessions and pulls both user processes (applications opened / used by users – such as Word, PowerPoint, Chrome, Winamp, etc) and system processes onto 1 or 2 CPU cores, leaving the rest of the CPU cores to handle the game. This completely removes random game spikes which negatively affect the user experience. Game Booster ensures uninterrupted gaming at a faster pace. For its tests, Chillblast wanted to use a real user’s system with the sort of memory-resident software load and application set most consumers use on a day-to-day basis. They didn’t feel much value would be derived from running tests on a clean installation of Windows, nor on a £5,000 Core i9 powerhouse as this hardware is not representative of a real PC. Chillblast therefore used a Chillblast Samurai 15.6” with the following specifications:
Intel Core i7 6700HQ Quad Core CPU
16GB DDR4 2400MHz Memory
GeForce GTX 970M 3GB Video Card
1TB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
Windows 10 Home [1803]
Chillblast installed a total of six different security products, Norton Internet Security, McAfee Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, BullGuard Internet Security, AVG Internet Security and Windows Defender. Chillblast also wanted to run the tests on the system with no protection whatsoever given that some gamers don’t have active antivirus software on their computer at all.
Before and after each benchmarking test was complete, Chillblast restored a “clean” Windows image to the pre-testing state to ensure any residual AV software left after one test couldn’t impact the next.
The first benchmark needs little introduction – 3DMark in its various guises has been the go-to 3D performance benchmark for two decades and professional overclockers and enthusiasts alike spend an inordinate amount of time chasing world records in each test. This was followed by a second test, this time using F1 2017. The popular racing game from Codemasters has a well-optimised 3D engine and incorporates a useful benchmark function. Chillblast performed three runs of both tests, averaging each result.
The Results
Test 1: In the 3Dmark Fire Strike, the fastest configuration of all was seen when running with BullGuard Internet Security. It roared into first place with a score of 6,650, while the antivirus-free setup trailed behind with 6,574, and even Windows Defender could only manage 6,469.
Test 2: In the F1 2017 test, the BullGuard installation once again showed the fastest FPS rate of 52.4 thanks to the Game Booster functionality. Even computers with no antivirus installed couldn’t quite match BullGuard’s performance, with frame rates dropping to 52.2.
Chillblast’s Conclusion
Fastest AV for Gamers: BullGuard Internet Security
"Running your Windows gaming PC with Antivirus doesn’t have to impact gaming performance to any noticeable degree; if you choose the correct product," said Ben Miles, Sales Director, Chillblast. "Those wanting the best possible performance from their PC would be demonstrably best served by choosing BullGuard, based on the results of our testing.”