A top antivirus program is a must-have security tool for PC gamers. It protects against malware, ransomware and spyware, viruses, identity theft and phishing, as well as other online threats. It should be light and non-intrusive, with a only minimal impact on your gaming performance.

A lot of antivirus programs provide extra features for gamers. For instance the dedicated game boost which optimizes CPU performance and decreases background processes. Other programs have features that protect you from hackers gaining access to your personal data and some let you play anonymously with your friends by using a VPN service.

Bitdefender is a top-performing antivirus for gamers. It boasts one of the best malware detection rates in tests, and cloud scanning that has a minimal impact on performance (even during full system scans). It also comes with useful system tune-up tools which include disk cleaners and duplicate file removal.

McAfee is another leading security solution with an advanced gaming feature that gives your games priority over resource-intensive background applications. It includes a Game Boost Engine and a variety of other useful options, such as parental controls, scheduling updates systems scanning, and many more. Its machine learning and heuristic technologies are among the top in the industry.

Webroot Secure Anywhere installs in under an hour and is extremely lightweight, consuming only 5MB of RAM at idle and less than 15% of your CPU when scanning. It has a high malware detection rate and comes with malwarebytes web protection an additional feature that wipes away any trace of your internet activities, rendering deleted files inaccessible.