Microsoft Defender is heavy when used on Intel CPUs but light on AMD-iPhone Mania

Antivirus image

Anti-virus software that comes standard with Windows “Microsoft DefenderThe evaluation organization has issued an analysis result that “” is heavy in operation and has a great impact on system performance.

however,In fact, Microsoft Defender is heavy only when combined with an Intel CPU, and light when combined with an AMD CPU.I found out.

Approximately 6% performance degradation with real-time protection enabled

According to a TechPowerUp studyWhen running CINEBENCH R23 on an Intel Core i9-10850K, enabling real-time protection for Windows Defender causes a performance degradation of about 6%.

Windows Defender and CINEBENCH R23 scoresWindows Defender and CINEBENCH R23 scores

If you check the execution status of the process at this time,Windows DefenderMicrosoft Defender’s anti-malware process called “MsMpEng.exe” occupied 4.15% of the CPU time when real-time protection was enabled.

Performance degradation due to combination of Windows Defender and Intel CPUPerformance degradation due to combination of Windows Defender and Intel CPU

This phenomenon occurs when combined with Intel’s 8th to 11th generation Core series.Does not happen if run on AMD CPU

Caused by a malfunction in using the hardware performance counter

About this phenomenon TechPowerUpCaused by a bug in Microsoft DefenderIt is said.

The Intel Core processor has seven built-in hardware performance counters, and you can set the privilege level for each counter.

And while common system utilities use this counter in “mode 3” or “all ring levels”, Microsoft Defender uses it in “mode 2”.

When Microsoft Defender uses a counter, if the counter is in a mode other than mode 2, it will start and stop repeatedly and try many times to change to mode 2, which consumes CPU time and system. It is said that the performance will be reduced.

As a countermeasure, whether to stop real-time protection or control the counter mode with external software

There are two workarounds for this issue.

The first is to disable the real-time protection feature of Windows Defender, which is not recommended for security reasons.

The other is to use the free software “Counter Control” provided by TechPowerUp.

This software monitors the usage status of Intel CPU performance counters and can prevent Windows Defender from wasting CPU time by pressing “Reset Counter” when “Defender” is displayed. increase.

TechPowerUp Counter ControlTechPowerUp Counter Control

You can also take measures with the company’s “Throttle Stop” software.

Source: TechPowerUp (1), (2), (3) via Neowin
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