When a community member mentioned they had acquired Norton 360 Gamer Edition, I was curious. I didn't know antivirus software could cater specifically to gamers. Today, we’ll test how antivirus software, including Windows Defender, impacts gaming performance. Is there a difference depending on which antivirus you use? We'll benchmark a couple of different titles on a realistic gaming setup: the ASUS ROG Flow X13 with a Ryzen 7940 CPU and an RTX 4060 GPU. Big thanks to ASUS for providing this hardware.

Norton 360 Gamer Edition Overview

Norton 360 Gamer Edition offers a unique GUI showcasing different product components. Under "Device Security," you find the typical Norton 360 features, including security scans and advanced settings for behavioral protection and firewall management. Additionally, it offers a "Game Optimizer," VPN, software updater, and other features. The Game Optimizer aims to enhance performance by managing resource usage, setting the power plan to max performance, and turning off notifications. But how does this translate to real-world gaming performance?

Testing Methodology

I decided to run three scenarios: one with F-Secure (the antivirus I was using), one with just Windows Defender, and one with Norton 360 Gamer Edition. We benchmarked two games: Far Cry 5 and Civilization VI. These games were chosen for their excellent in-game benchmarking tools and their CPU-intensive nature, which is relevant since antivirus scans typically affect CPU usage.

Far Cry 5 Benchmark Results

F-Secure:

• Average FPS: 105
• Minimum FPS: N/A
• Maximum FPS: N/A

Windows Defender:

• Average FPS: 106
• Minimum FPS: 78
• Maximum FPS: 140

Norton 360 Gamer Edition:

• Average FPS: 106
• Minimum FPS: 78
• Maximum FPS: 139

There was no significant difference in FPS between the different antivirus solutions. The results were within the margin of error, indicating negligible impact on gaming performance.

Civilization VI Benchmark Results

F-Secure:

• Average Turn Time: 6.49 seconds

Windows Defender:

• Average Turn Time: 6.55 seconds

Norton 360 Gamer Edition:

• Average Turn Time: 6.55 seconds

Again, the differences were minimal and within the margin of error, suggesting no significant performance impact from the antivirus software.

Conclusion

Does Norton 360 Gamer Edition improve gaming performance? In our tests, it did not. The impact of antivirus software on gaming performance is minimal, especially with modern multi-threaded CPUs and GPU-bound games. Factors like room temperature, cooling solutions, and hardware specifications play a more significant role in gaming performance.

Most modern games rely heavily on GPU power, and the slight CPU usage by antivirus software is unlikely to affect gameplay. Therefore, paying extra for "gamer edition" antivirus software may not be necessary.

If you enjoyed this analysis, please like and share this video. A big thank you to ASUS for the ROG Flow X13. This laptop, with its remarkable portability and battery life, has been an excellent tool for both gaming and business tasks. Check the link in the description for more details.