VBS technology is a security function that helps protect the operating system against malware, but as we have already told you on previous occasions can cause Windows 11 to lose performance, and quite noticeably, especially in games. For this reason, in our guide dedicated to how to improve the performance of Windows 11 we recommend you disable this technology.
Obviously, by disabling VBS technology we are sacrificing a security layer to improve performance, but is it really worth it? If we talk about a company or a professional that works with sensitive data, of course it is worth having it activated, but in the case of a private user it is not like that, because in the end it does not make a significant difference or is essential, and we will eliminate an important ballast.
At this point you are probably wondering how much difference does it make to disable VBS in Windows 11, and thanks to a very complete analysis carried out by Tom’s Hardware we can give you a clear and direct answer. The difference in gaming performance between enabling and disabling such technology can be as much as 11.2% at medium rate, and as much as 37.7% at minimum rate.
Take a good look at the attached image, in it you can see the performance data in 15 different games using a GeForce RTX 4090 with different graphic settings and resolutions. With VBS disabled Microsoft Flight Simulator got 168.8 FPS at 1080p and High quality, and 151.9 FPS with those same settings and VBS enabled. The drop in performance is 11.2%.
Total War Warhammer 3, under DirectX 11, recorded a minimum frame rate of 113.4 FPS at 1080p at maximum quality with VBS disabled. When activating VBS the minimum FPS became 82.3 FPS, which represents a drop of 37.7%. In other games the falls are less pronounced, but in the end we can clearly see that the impact of this technology is greater at minimum FPS rates than at medium rates.
However, it is important that you keep in mind that the equipment used in these tests had a top-of-the-range configuration, and that is that this GeForce RTX 4090 was accompanied by an Intel Core i9-13900K, which means that it’s too much in games. If these same tests had been done with a more modest PC, and more limited at the CPU level, the results would have been different, and I am convinced that the impact of having VBS activated I would have ended up being older.
The conclusion that we must draw from this is simpler and simpler than it seems. If we are going to use our PC to play, it is recommended to disable VBS, since we will enjoy greater performance and we will not be making a significant sacrifice. If our main objective is not going to be to play games, and if we are going to use the PC or laptop professionally, it would be advisable to keep VBS activated, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article. You can leave any doubt you have in the comments and we will help you solve it.
