New Antivirus Benchmark is Here!

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New Antivirus Benchmark is Here!

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

Jul
8
2010

My apologies for the delay in posting this new antivirus benchmark results. The report was in fact ready since last week but only a selected amount of forum members gets to see it first to report on any typing errors. If you didn’t know, even if you have the fastest computer in the world, ALL antivirus is capable of slowing down your computer and I strongly believe that we have the right to know the real truth on how slow can the computer get with a particular antivirus software. Most if not all antivirus website claims that their antivirus is the FASTEST or LIGHTEST but after putting them into 18 different benchmark tests, it doesn’t really seemed like what it claimed.

One of our reader Liam K. posted in the comment that the well known fact of the two least memory-intensive antivirus programs are Avira Antivir for free and NOD32 for paid. Whether it is true or not, there are millions of users on the Internet using different kind of antivirus software and it is just not possible to ask them to uninstall their current antivirus and use either Avira or NOD32. Everyone has their own opinion on which antivirus works best for them and hopefully this benchmark tests that I am doing will help everyone to know why certain actions they perform on their computer seemed slower than before.

The antivirus are tested in a very fair manner where all the steps and methods are performed exactly the same on every antivirus. Default settings on the antivirus are used during benchmark since most users doesn’t change the settings. Antivirus developers would have known about this and adjusted the default settings to suit most users. It is not logical for the antivirus developers to enable the paranoid mode by default where it prompts the user for action on every little thing they do on the computer.

The good thing about the current method which I am using to display the chart is via FusionCharts where it uses flash to generate the chart in real time based on an external XML file. This allows me to easily add more benchmark results to the chart in future. For your convenience, I have also calculated the percentage difference to show the difference between using an antivirus and without the antivirus. All you need to do is just move your mouse cursor over the bar at the graph.

Antivirus Benchmark

It takes a few hours to complete all 18 benchmarks on one antivirus and currently I have only tested 20. I will continue to benchmark more antivirus software whenever I can and update the chart. You can access the latest antivirus benchmark from http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/ or from the top navigation bar where it says “Lightest Antivirus Test“. So far I’ve noticed that most of the time there won’t be much difference on the performance for the same brand of antivirus but different product. For example, the performance of Kaspersky Antivirus and Kaspersky Internet Security is pretty much the same. Do take note of the version number as well because newer builds could have better performance.

Oh and by the way, if you have a Facebook account, don’t forget to hit the Like button on the antivirus benchmark page to show your support on the new antivirus benchmark test.

Difference Between the Free and Paid Version of Rising Antivirus 2009

Analyze and Benchmark Computer System with Fresh Diagnose

Network Benchmark – Test Your Network Speed

ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Security v4 Includes Free SysRescue Recovery Live CD

mark

very good
thanks
Robert Kirbo

Raymond, you have been a great friend and source of
wonderful hints, tricks, and application reviews that I simply cannot find elsewhere.

When I heard that you were submitting your articles to numerous readers for corrections, I was shocked and
a bit disturbed. There are still many syntax and grammatical errors in your articles. Your meaning is always quite clear, but if you really desire to have a great English language product that is error free, please consider sending me the preliminary article. I have done work for many governments, officials and political leaders, as well as having written technical articles and books. I edit for many Aerospace companies and believe I could help you very much. I offer this service completely free to you, as you have provided me with many great time saving tips in the past.

Warm Regards,

Robert
Jim Hover

Hi Raymond,
In Febuary I downloaded the free one year Trend Micro Security Package and have been very pleased with it up until my computer crashed and I had to put it back to factory settings, thus losing all the programs I had uploaded, downloaded etc, etc, I have just reinstalled Trend Micro security, but the problem is it is just a 30 day trial. I need the Security number for the one year Trend Micro Security to activate it again.
Can you please tell how I can get it?

Thanks in advance Jim Hover
http://the-rushart.blogspot.com Rusa

Avast perform well! Go Avast!
play8oy

nice work Ray, i LIKE :)
Toni A

Thanks a LOT! :)
INDRANIL

Thanks Ray for your valuable time on testing the anti viruses.
Zimbo

Amazing and fantastic. Thank you very much
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/installsize.html Simon B.

The installsize graph – could you change it to show No antivirus as 0 (i.e. subtract 17.068,9 from every number)? It would help to see the differences better.

Any plans on an overview page? Or a public Google Spreadsheet with the numbers, to allow people to make their own graphs would also be great. I also have a feeling that you could eliminate some manual work on your side by going with Google Docs instead of xml stuff.

It would also be nice to be able to choose which antivirus to include, to avoid cluttering the graphs.
sanzu

very informatic…
Abhijeet Singh

Aahaa at last…. Thanks and good to see the Like Button. Wish I had ReTweet And Buzz button also.

Also I would like to know that Raymond are you on Twitter?
b.govindraj

Eset ….. the lightest n the most effective on the planet.

source: 5 years experience !!!!!
mafia87

Thanks very much ray.. Really appreciate it.. :)
elvis

love ur work as always
Sparky

WOW. A lot of work has obviously gone into this and for that I thank you.

Previously I used Avast (free edition) and after a week my internet connection would be disconnected (I’d be connected but no bits would travel in any direction, well just enough to stay connected I guess), at first after several hours, then the time would reduce till even on boot up nothing.

Re-installation of Avast would repeat the situation over and over. I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. After reading your recommendations I switched to Avira (free edition) and I’ve had no problems since. Cheers!
minnetonka

Great work and recognition of the countless hours to test each product in an objective environment. I’ve always appreciated the lengths to which you go to provide extensive explanations and personal testing before publishing your articles.

Not sure from looking at the test chart how Sparky could tell it was Avast that cause the internet connection to drop–was it one of the “related articles?”

Nice to know I can check back to see the updated chart as more products are tested. Thank you for the valuable contribution.
JP

Nice work. Still waiting for your X-Ray project. :)
Chao T

Thanks for the hard work Ray. Thats a very valuable tests.
Sparky

@minnetonka, it was a previous article Ray had done that recommended Avira for the great detection rate and the price of zilch. As for the connection drop out, when I un-installed Avast for the fifth time (with the intention of re-installing it), I left my computer without it for a week and had no problems. I installed Avast and it started all over again.
james

very informative article..since i have a little over 2 months left on my antivirus i would like to see how the new panda cloud antivirus ranks

thanks for all your hard work
james
RandyN

Thanks for all the work. It would be nice to see a total or summary chart that includes some type of scoring for all tests run. Currently there are too many data points/charts to be able to keep it straight on which is the lightest av.
dramit

i like the way you present your work…
very informative.
pls do comment on Quick Heal Internet Security.
http://www.quickheal.co.in/

thanks.
vhick

This must be the most comprehensive test I ever seen. Any angle are test. Still waiting for the game score result.

Thank you very very much for the great effort!
deeps

raymond plz test sophos .sophos is very light on resources
Clocks

I agree with what RandyN said. Great work, but you really need to add a summary, or aggregate score. The detail is great, but it was be nice to see is summarized. I look forward to seeing Prevx and Bluepoint added in the future…thanks
UserR

Thank you very much.
*******
Test, please, Agnitum Outpost Security Suite too.
Ron Ag

Hi and thanks a lot Raymond but where is the full test results? am I missing something?
Clicking on the Lightest AV 2010 link above just shows the test methodology…

Thanks again!
Martin

First, I want to thank you, Raymond, for conducting the antivirus tests and sharing such comprehensive results with your members and many, many followers – all of which, I am confident, sincerely appreciate this particular thread.

I suppose that I could have reviewed multiple other website reviews to develop an educated answer to the following question, but I prefer to open a discussion in this forum, with this post, to achieve a better answer.

Given the following 18 tests associated with Raymond’s testing of antivirus programs . . .

1 Application Launch
2 Boot Time
3 Idle Memory Usage
4 Peak Memory Usage
5 Setup Installer File Size
6 1st Full Scan
7 2nd Full Scan
8 Hard Drive Space Usage
9 Install 3rd Party Software
10 Uninstall Software
11 Compress Files
12 Extract Compressed File
13 Registry Key Count
14 Load Website
15 File Download
16 Audio File Conversion
17 File Input Output
18 Game Score

. . . how would you (anyone) rate, on a weighted scale, from 0 (zero) to 3, these tests? Where 0 (zero) represents an essentially moot result – for me, for example, I do not use my PC for gaming – therefore 18 would rate a 0 (zero). In contrast, since I value a clean and efficient Registry, 13 would rate a 3.

Where I am going with this is simple, I think. I want to assess the overall results, for a few antivirus programs that have my interest – programs that I am most familiar with. To do so, I want to weight each test and then multiply it by the order in which each program finishes. After summing the weighted-program finishes, I will calculate a weighted results average to pick (my) winner.

To begin my analysis, i I have assigned the weighted ratings of 0 (zero) to 3 to the following values . . .

0 = negligible value
1 = low value
2 = mid value
3 = high value

For me, the software programs of interest include . . .

AAP – Avira AntiVir Personal 10.0.0.567
AFA – Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.545
AVG – AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.829
KIS – Kaspersky Internet Security 2001 11.0.0.232 (a)
MSE – Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1961

Below, for each of these software programs, following their abbreviations (as noted above), the numbers represent the position in which the program finished. For example, since there are 21 programs, a program that finished first is noted by the number 1 (one), and a program that finishes fifth is noted with the number 5.

According to Raymond’s notes for each test, LOWER NUMBERS are BETTER in the following tests . . .

TEST # 1 – Application Launch
By default all antiviruses auto scan and analyze any programs that a user runs. This would result in slow down of launching of applications and the chart below shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/launch.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 11
AVG – 1
KIS – 5
MSE – 6

TEST # 2 – Boot Time
By default all antiviruses auto starts itself when Windows is loaded and the real time protection is enabled. This would slow down the Windows booting process and the chart above shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/boot.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 2
AVG – 4
KIS – 7
MSE – 16

TEST # 3 – Idle Memory Usage
Antivirus is active in Windows at all times and they use up memory (RAM). The chart below shows the physical memory usage of the antivirus processes.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/idlemem.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 1
AVG – 2
KIS – 10
MSE – 20

TEST # 4 – Peak Memory Usage
Some antivirus may seem to take up very little memory usage because some antivirus developers has implemented freeing up of memory for the antivirus process. If it does not free up the memory, the memory would probably continue gets eaten up and ends up with a huge number. The chart below shows the peak memory usage of the antivirus processes.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/peakmem.html
AAP – 17
AFA – 1
AVG – 10
KIS – 6
MSE – 15

TEST # 5 – Setup Installer File Size
The chart below shows the file size of the antivirus setup installer. Smaller file size results in finishing the download faster.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/filesize.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 4
AVG – 12
KIS – 18
MSE – 1

TEST # 6 – 1st Full Scan
The chart below shows the time taken to complete the full or complete scan performed the first time.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/scantime.html
AAP – 10
AFA – 3
AVG – 7
KIS – 20
MSE – 19

TEST # 7 – 2nd Full Scan
Some antivirus implements caching technology where it does not re-scan files that has been scanned and not modified. The chart below shows the number of seconds took to perform a full scan the second time, after the first full scan followed by a reboot.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/scantime2.html
AAP – 14
AFA – 7
AVG – 10
KIS – 13
MSE – 19

TEST # 8 – Hard Drive Space Usage
The chart below shows the total number of total hard drive space taken after installing and updating the antivirus to the latest engine and definition.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/installsize.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 2
AVG – 8
KIS – 21
MSE – 7

TEST # 9 – Install 3rd Party Software
The chart below shows the time taken to install a third party software with an antivirus protection enabled.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/softinstall.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 3
AVG – 1
KIS – 7
MSE – 5

TEST # 10 – Uninstall Software
The chart below shows the time taken to uninstall (remove) a third party software with an antivirus protection enabled.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/softuninstall.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 3
AVG – 1
KIS – 8
MSE – 9

TEST # 11 – Compress Files
Antivirus real time protection slows down the file compression activity. Below is a benchmark report for file compression. Lower number is better in this test.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/compress.html
AAP – 4
AFA – 3
AVG – 2
KIS – 11
MSE – 20

TEST # 12 – Extract Compressed File
Antivirus real time protection slows down the file extraction activity. Below is a benchmark report for file extraction.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/extract.html
AAP – 5
AFA – 10
AVG – 6
KIS – 3
MSE – 14

TEST # 13 – Registry Key Count
The chart below shows the number of extra registry keys created or added after installing the antivirus.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/registry.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 4
AVG – 7
KIS – 14
MSE – 20

TEST # 14 – Load Website
Antivirus also slows down web browsing because it scans the files such as html, css, images to be loaded into the browser. The chart above shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/webload.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 5
AVG – 1
KIS – 15
MSE – 9

TEST # 15 – File Download
The chart below shows the time taken to download files from the Internet.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/download.html
AAP – 1
AFA – 2
AVG – 7
KIS – 19
MSE – 8

TEST # 16 – Audio File Conversion
Below is the chart showing the time taken to convert audio file from MP3 to WAV.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/convert.html
AAP – 4
AFA – 9
AVG – 3
KIS – 21
MSE – 5

TEST # 17 – File Input Output
Delay of File Input and Output.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/fileio.html
AAP – 8
AFA – 10
AVG – 1
KIS – 4
MSE – 17

TEST # 18 – Game Score
Antivirus real time protection slows down gaming and lowers the FPS (Frames Per Second).
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/gamefps.html
AAP – NO RESULT POSTED
AFA – NO RESULT POSTED
AVG – NO RESULT POSTED
KIS – 1
MSE – NO RESULT POSTED

For this preliminary posting, using the following weighted ratings . . .

0 = negligible value
1 = low value
2 = mid value
3 = high value

. . . based on the priorities I have chosen, I rate Raymond’s 18 tests accordingly . . .

3 = high value > 6, 7, 13, 17
2 = mid value > 1, 2, 14
1 = low value > 3, 4, 9, 15, 16
0 = negligible value > 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 18

At this time, TEST # 18 is incomplete and does not include results from AAP, AFA, AVG, and MSE. Regardless, given the fact that I rate 18 with a value of 0 (zero), I shall base my analysis only on TEST # 1 through # 17.

Given my priorities and weighted ratings, according to my spreadsheet calulations (assuming no errors), my programs of interest include the following weighted averages and placings (i.e. finishing in 1st Place, 2nd, etc) . . .

AAP – 10.47 – 3rd Place
AFA – 7.29 – 2nd Place
AVG – 6.47 – 1st Place
KIS – 15.88 – 4th Place
MSE – 20.00 – 5th Place

With priorites or weighted ratings, each TEST has equal value or weight and therefore programs are placed on their respective finishes, averaged. Again, according to my spreadsheet calulations (assuming no errors), my programs of interest include the following non-weighted averages and placings (i.e. finishing in 1st Place, 2nd, etc) . . .

AAP – 6.18 – 3rd Place
AFA – 4.71 – 1st Place
AVG – 4.88 – 2nd Place
KIS – 11.88 – 4th Place
MSE – 12.35 – 5th Place

It appears that the only difference my weights made, moved AVG into 1st Place (with weights) from 2nd Place; and AFA into 2nd Place (with weights) from 1st Place. Otherwise, with or without weights, the remaining program postions did not change, AAP remained in 3rd Place, KIS remained in 4th Place, and MSE remained in 5th Place.

I must state that as an AAP user, for nearly 2 years, I am disappointed with its 3rd Place finish. Prior to switching to AAP, I tried AVG and it created so many problems with my installation of Windows XP SP2, that I dumped it after less than 2 weeks of use. At that time, AVG’s support of their online forum – in my experience – was poor. In contrast, since day one, I have found AAP’s support of their online forum to be EXCELLENT. About six months ago, I gave AFA a trial for a couple of days and found it more difficult to execute than AAP and therefore removed it from my system. Given my preliminary results, as noted above, I may have to revisit AFA again.

Till then, I am EXTREMELY INTERESTED in how or where others value TESTS # 1 through # 17, given the following weighted ratings . . .

3 = high value > ?
2 = mid value > ?
1 = low value > ?
0 = negligible value > ?

Hope a few of you find a little value in this posting and feel welcomed to comment and share your weighted ratings.

Martin
Martin

SPELL CHECKED

First, I want to thank you, Raymond, for conducting the antivirus tests and sharing such comprehensive results with your members and many, many followers – all of which, I am confident, sincerely appreciate this particular thread.

I suppose that I could have reviewed multiple other website reviews to develop an educated answer to the following question, but I prefer to open a discussion in this forum, with this post, to achieve a better answer.

Given the following 18 tests associated with Raymond’s testing of antivirus programs . . .

1 Application Launch
2 Boot Time
3 Idle Memory Usage
4 Peak Memory Usage
5 Setup Installer File Size
6 1st Full Scan
7 2nd Full Scan
8 Hard Drive Space Usage
9 Install 3rd Party Software
10 Uninstall Software
11 Compress Files
12 Extract Compressed File
13 Registry Key Count
14 Load Website
15 File Download
16 Audio File Conversion
17 File Input Output
18 Game Score

. . . how would you (anyone) rate, on a weighted scale, from 0 (zero) to 3, these tests? Where 0 (zero) represents an essentially moot result – for me, for example, I do not use my PC for gaming – therefore 18 would rate a 0 (zero). In contrast, since I value a clean and efficient Registry, 13 would rate a 3.

Where I am going with this is simple, I think. I want to assess the overall results, for a few antivirus programs that have my interest – programs that I am most familiar with. To do so, I want to weight each test and then multiply it by the order in which each program finishes. After summing the weighted-program finishes, I will calculate a weighted results average to pick (my) winner.

To begin my analysis, I have assigned the weighted ratings of 0 (zero) to 3 to the following values . . .

0 = negligible value
1 = low value
2 = mid value
3 = high value

For me, the software programs of interest include . . .

AAP – Avira AntiVir Personal 10.0.0.567
AFA – Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.545
AVG – AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.829
KIS – Kaspersky Internet Security 2001 11.0.0.232 (a)
MSE – Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1961

Below, for each of these software programs, following their abbreviations (as noted above), the numbers represent the position in which the program finished. For example, since there are 21 programs, a program that finished first is noted by the number 1 (one), and a program that finishes fifth is noted with the number 5.

According to Raymond’s notes for each test, LOWER NUMBERS are BETTER in the following tests . . .

TEST # 1 – Application Launch
By default all antiviruses auto scan and analyze any programs that a user runs. This would result in slow down of launching of applications and the chart below shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/launch.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 11
AVG – 1
KIS – 5
MSE – 6

TEST # 2 – Boot Time
By default all antiviruses auto starts itself when Windows is loaded and the real time protection is enabled. This would slow down the Windows booting process and the chart above shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/boot.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 2
AVG – 4
KIS – 7
MSE – 16

TEST # 3 – Idle Memory Usage
Antivirus is active in Windows at all times and they use up memory (RAM). The chart below shows the physical memory usage of the antivirus processes.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/idlemem.html
AAP – 9
AFA – 1
AVG – 2
KIS – 10
MSE – 20

TEST # 4 – Peak Memory Usage
Some antivirus may seem to take up very little memory usage because some antivirus developers has implemented freeing up of memory for the antivirus process. If it does not free up the memory, the memory would probably continue gets eaten up and ends up with a huge number. The chart below shows the peak memory usage of the antivirus processes.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/peakmem.html
AAP – 17
AFA – 1
AVG – 10
KIS – 6
MSE – 15

TEST # 5 – Setup Installer File Size
The chart below shows the file size of the antivirus setup installer. Smaller file size results in finishing the download faster.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/filesize.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 4
AVG – 12
KIS – 18
MSE – 1

TEST # 6 – 1st Full Scan
The chart below shows the time taken to complete the full or complete scan performed the first time.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/scantime.html
AAP – 10
AFA – 3
AVG – 7
KIS – 20
MSE – 19

TEST # 7 – 2nd Full Scan
Some antivirus implements caching technology where it does not re-scan files that has been scanned and not modified. The chart below shows the number of seconds took to perform a full scan the second time, after the first full scan followed by a reboot.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/scantime2.html
AAP – 14
AFA – 7
AVG – 10
KIS – 13
MSE – 19

TEST # 8 – Hard Drive Space Usage
The chart below shows the total number of total hard drive space taken after installing and updating the antivirus to the latest engine and definition.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/installsize.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 2
AVG – 8
KIS – 21
MSE – 7

TEST # 9 – Install 3rd Party Software
The chart below shows the time taken to install a third party software with an antivirus protection enabled.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/softinstall.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 3
AVG – 1
KIS – 7
MSE – 5

TEST # 10 – Uninstall Software
The chart below shows the time taken to uninstall (remove) a third party software with an antivirus protection enabled.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/softuninstall.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 3
AVG – 1
KIS – 8
MSE – 9

TEST # 11 – Compress Files
Antivirus real time protection slows down the file compression activity. Below is a benchmark report for file compression. Lower number is better in this test.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/compress.html
AAP – 4
AFA – 3
AVG – 2
KIS – 11
MSE – 20

TEST # 12 – Extract Compressed File
Antivirus real time protection slows down the file extraction activity. Below is a benchmark report for file extraction.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/extract.html
AAP – 5
AFA – 10
AVG – 6
KIS – 3
MSE – 14

TEST # 13 – Registry Key Count
The chart below shows the number of extra registry keys created or added after installing the antivirus.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/registry.html
AAP – 3
AFA – 4
AVG – 7
KIS – 14
MSE – 20

TEST # 14 – Load Website
Antivirus also slows down web browsing because it scans the files such as html, css, images to be loaded into the browser. The chart above shows the delay.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/webload.html
AAP – 2
AFA – 5
AVG – 1
KIS – 15
MSE – 9

TEST # 15 – File Download
The chart below shows the time taken to download files from the Internet.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/download.html
AAP – 1
AFA – 2
AVG – 7
KIS – 19
MSE – 8

TEST # 16 – Audio File Conversion
Below is the chart showing the time taken to convert audio file from MP3 to WAV.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/convert.html
AAP – 4
AFA – 9
AVG – 3
KIS – 21
MSE – 5

TEST # 17 – File Input Output
Delay of File Input and Output.
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/fileio.html
AAP – 8
AFA – 10
AVG – 1
KIS – 4
MSE – 17

TEST # 18 – Game Score
Antivirus real time protection slows down gaming and lowers the FPS (Frames Per Second).
http://www.raymond.cc/antivirus/gamefps.html
AAP – NO RESULT POSTED
AFA – NO RESULT POSTED
AVG – NO RESULT POSTED
KIS – 1
MSE – NO RESULT POSTED

For this preliminary posting, using the following weighted ratings . . .

0 = negligible value
1 = low value
2 = mid value
3 = high value

. . . based on the priorities I have chosen, I rate Raymond’s 18 tests accordingly . . .

3 = high value > 6, 7, 13, 17
2 = mid value > 1, 2, 14
1 = low value > 3, 4, 9, 15, 16
0 = negligible value > 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 18

At this time, TEST # 18 is incomplete and does not include results from AAP, AFA, AVG, and MSE. Regardless, given the fact that I rate 18 with a value of 0 (zero), I shall base my analysis only on TEST # 1 through # 17.

Given my priorities and weighted ratings, according to my spreadsheet calculations (assuming no errors), my programs of interest include the following weighted averages and placing (i.e. finishing in 1st Place, 2nd, etc) . . .

AAP – 10.47 – 3rd Place
AFA – 7.29 – 2nd Place
AVG – 6.47 – 1st Place
KIS – 15.88 – 4th Place
MSE – 20.00 – 5th Place

With priorities or weighted ratings, each TEST has equal value or weight and therefore programs are placed on their respective finishes, averaged. Again, according to my spreadsheet calculations (assuming no errors), my programs of interest include the following non-weighted averages and placing (i.e. finishing in 1st Place, 2nd, etc) . . .

AAP – 6.18 – 3rd Place
AFA – 4.71 – 1st Place
AVG – 4.88 – 2nd Place
KIS – 11.88 – 4th Place
MSE – 12.35 – 5th Place

It appears that the only difference my weights made, moved AVG into 1st Place (with weights) from 2nd Place; and AFA into 2nd Place (with weights) from 1st Place. Otherwise, with or without weights, the remaining program positions did not change, AAP remained in 3rd Place, KIS remained in 4th Place, and MSE remained in 5th Place.

I must state that as an AAP user, for nearly 2 years, I am disappointed with its 3rd Place finish. Prior to switching to AAP, I tried AVG and it created so many problems with my installation of Windows XP SP2, that I dumped it after less than 2 weeks of use. At that time, AVG’s support of their online forum – in my experience – was poor. In contrast, since day one, I have found AAP’s support of their online forum to be EXCELLENT. About six months ago, I gave AFA a trial for a couple of days and found it more difficult to execute than AAP and therefore removed it from my system. Given my preliminary results, as noted above, I may have to revisit AFA again.

Till then, I am EXTREMELY INTERESTED in how or where others value TESTS # 1 through # 17, given the following weighted ratings . . .

3 = high value > ?
2 = mid value > ?
1 = low value > ?
0 = negligible value > ?

Hope a few of you find a little value in this posting and feel welcomed to comment and share your weighted ratings.

Martin
Martin

I suppose I should add that today I am running . . .

Model: Dell Desktop
CPU: Intel Dual Core 2.8 GHz
RAM: 3 GB DDR2
HDD: Dual or Two 320 GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s
O/S: Windows Windows XP SP3 (32-bit)

In addition, I am not a gamer, but I do download and test new software several times a week.

Martin
In-f3st

Although my NOD license is gone and I am on Avast now, looks like I am riding the right bus ;)

Great post ray!
Martin

Raymond,

Please delete my initial posting – 26 – since my follow up posting reflects a spell check that corrected various spelling errors.

Thank you.

Martin
norman

Thank you very much for this very informative tests that you’ve shared to us. I’ve been using avira antivirus for a year now and i found nothing complicated with the performance of my laptop. One thing more…it’s free for all. Oh God! You have a very powerful mind Ray…You’re such a genius.
Anirban

Thanks a lot for your Post.

Can you please include detection rate benchmark of these AntiViruses.I understand that’s not the point of this post but I feel if detection rate of an antivirus is poor there is no point in Faster loading of the same in the system.

Thanks again for all your efforts.
david

typo on Benchmark 5.

The MS Security Essentials installer is incorrect as most of its prerequisite files are already embedded by Windows itself (even true on Vista/7).
MR7

That’s just awesome! I can’t remember how many times I said it, but you are THE man…
kit

AWESOME. Avast, Rising, AVG seem to be doing quite well in the free category
Get real

You can’t test antivirus based on speed and depend on it results. What use if it fast and can’t remove and detect new or hidden virus.
http://www.raymond.cc/ Raymond

@Get real: This benchmark is for everyone to know how is their antivirus affecting their computer’s performance and not to force anyone to switch. If you want think you can live with an antivirus that makes your Windows perform 200% slower, then by all means go ahead and use it.

Come on, Malaysians needs to get smarter than that, you know what I mean.
Chirag64

Did you forget to include detection rate in the Benchmarks?!?
tauseef

is it fine to use cloud antivirus like panda cloud protection offline like i have dialup connection.i donot remain offline
J_G

@tauseef

Yes it’s fine to use Panda Cloud AV, since it includes an offline cache with signatures. Though, the offline detection rate isn’t as great as if you would be Online.
Daniel

Hi Raymond.

Did you know that the “Classic Theme” makes your computer slower?

You can use Tom’s 2D Benchmark if you want to test it yourself:

http://www.tomshardware.de/download/Tom2D,0301-26150.html

CPU usage is also higher with the “Classic Theme”.

There’s a very good explanation here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/2d-windows-gdi,2547-2.html

Kind regards.
bill

Where are the results of the tests? Telling everyone HOW you tested is fine, but showing everyone the results of the tests would be a billion times more useful.
http://www.aitshy.com shy

this is cool dude.. what about norton..
gggirlgeek

Um, there’s a pull-down menu, guys. It says —Select a Benchmark Report —. Just select a test and you will see a quite nice flash chart of the results — all continuously updated to the current date.
gggirlgeek

Very nice, Raymond! This is important for those of us who know how to get many years out of a system. I keep reading how my 3 year old system is just too small to be a Windows7 HTPC…. Whatever! My machine runs like a dream, and it’s got at least 3 more years left in it! :) I would say choosing the right Antivirus is a huge factor in my success.

Currently choosing between Avast free and Panda Cloud, and Avira free. All have very high detection ratings according to several big tests on the Internet. Kapersky and Nod32 get rave reviews as well, but actually no higher than these free ones on average. I really like AVG too, and used it for years, but wanted something lighter.
gggirlgeek

The antivirus comparison is out and I was surprised and confused by some of the results. Panda Cloud did not fare too well and from my experience it is one of the best resource-friendly options. The other is Avast free. I was also confused because many benchmarks did not list Panda Cloud, only Panda Pro. Their results were so different when Cloud was tested that I can’t understand why.

Third, I was very surprised by all of Norton’s products. In my experience repairing computers, Norton is an incredible resource hog and often brings a small system to a grinding halt. This was a couple of years ago though. Has there been some huge change that I haven’t heard about in 2010? Is anyone else experiencing zippy systems with Norton? (New or high-end systems don’t count.)

Raymond.CC Blog

New Antivirus Benchmark is Here!

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

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