Does VBS Hurt Gaming Performance? How to Disable It Safely

You upgraded to Windows 11, ran the same games on the same hardware, and your FPS dropped a few percent for no obvious reason. One of the most common culprits is a security feature running silently in the background: VBS. Its impact on VBS gaming performance is real, measurable, and — if you decide the trade-off isn't worth it — reversible.

This guide explains what VBS actually does, how to check whether it's running on your PC, what it costs you in frames, and how to turn it off without leaving your machine exposed.

What VBS Is and Why It Costs FPS

Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) uses the CPU's hardware virtualization to create an isolated region of memory that the main operating system can't touch. Inside that protected region, Windows runs security features — most importantly HVCI (Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity, also called "Memory Integrity"), which verifies that drivers and kernel code haven't been tampered with before they run.

That isolation isn't free. Every time the system crosses the boundary between normal memory and the protected region, the CPU pays a small tax. In day-to-day desktop use you'll never notice it. In games — which hammer the CPU with thousands of draw calls and physics updates per second — those taxes add up.

The result is a CPU-side overhead that hits hardest in CPU-bound scenarios: competitive shooters at low settings, simulation-heavy open worlds, and high-refresh-rate gaming where the CPU, not the GPU, sets your frame ceiling.

How Much FPS Does VBS Actually Cost?

The honest answer: it depends heavily on your CPU and the game. Independent testing has generally found the VBS gaming performance penalty lands somewhere in the low-single-digit to roughly 10% range in CPU-limited titles, with little to no measurable loss when you're fully GPU-bound. [VERIFY — cite current benchmark, e.g. recent Tom's Hardware / PCGamer VBS testing for exact figures]

A few patterns hold up consistently:

• GPU-bound at 4K with maxed settings? You'll likely see no difference — the GPU is the bottleneck, so the CPU overhead is hidden.
• CPU-bound at 1080p chasing 240+ FPS? This is where VBS shows up, because every frame depends on CPU throughput.
• Older or mid-range CPUs feel it more than the latest high-core-count chips, which have headroom to absorb the overhead.

If you're not sure which camp you're in, check GPU usage while gaming with MSI Afterburner. If your GPU sits below ~95%, you're CPU-bound and VBS is more likely to matter for you. Our guide on why a gaming PC gets slower over time covers the other background-process causes worth ruling out at the same time.

How to Check If VBS Is Running

VBS is enabled by default on many new Windows 11 PCs and on clean installs, so don't assume it's off.

1. Press Win + R, type msinfo32, and press Enter.
2. In System Information, scroll down the right-hand pane to Virtualization-based security.
3. If it reads Running, VBS is active. Not enabled means it's already off.

Just below that line you'll also see "Virtualization-based security Services Configured / Running" — if it lists Hypervisor enforced Code Integrity, that's HVCI / Memory Integrity doing the work.

Why VBS Got Turned On in the First Place

Before you disable anything, it's worth knowing why it's there:

• Clean installs of Windows 11 often enable VBS by default on compatible hardware.
• Memory Integrity can be toggled on in Windows Security, sometimes by the OS itself after an update.
• Some enterprise or OEM images ship with it forced on.

VBS genuinely protects against a real class of attack: malicious or vulnerable drivers trying to inject code into the Windows kernel. That's not a hypothetical — driver-based attacks are a common malware technique. So this is a real trade-off, not a free win. Decide deliberately.

How to Disable VBS Safely

If you've weighed the trade-off and want the frames back, here's the clean way to do it. Disabling Memory Integrity alone resolves the overhead for most people and is the least invasive option — try that first.

Option 1: Turn Off Memory Integrity (recommended first step)

1. Open Windows Security → Device security → Core isolation details.
2. Toggle Memory integrity to Off.
3. Restart your PC.

Re-check msinfo32 after rebooting. On many systems, turning off Memory Integrity is enough to stop the FPS drain.

Option 2: Disable VBS Fully via Registry

If msinfo32 still shows VBS "Running" after Option 1, disable it at the registry level:

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard
3. Find (or create) a DWORD named EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity and set it to 0.
4. Restart and confirm in msinfo32 that it now reads Not enabled.

A Note on Related Features

VBS is tied to Windows features like the Virtual Machine Platform and Hyper-V. If you use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), Docker Desktop, Windows Sandbox, or run virtual machines, leave those features alone — turning them off will break those tools. Disabling Memory Integrity (Option 1) does not affect WSL or Hyper-V, which is another reason to start there.

The Honest Recommendation

For a competitive gamer chasing every frame on a CPU-bound setup, disabling Memory Integrity is a reasonable, well-understood tweak. For a machine you also use for work, banking, or anywhere you install drivers from unfamiliar sources, the few percent of FPS may not be worth lowering your defenses.

A sensible middle ground: keep your antivirus active, only install drivers from official manufacturer sites, and disable Memory Integrity rather than tearing out VBS entirely. You keep most of your security posture while removing the bulk of the gaming overhead.

If you'd rather not hand-edit the registry, SageTweaks is one option that surfaces VBS and Memory Integrity alongside the other Windows settings that affect frame timing, and lets you toggle and revert them from one place — useful if you want to A/B test the difference and undo it cleanly. It's one way to do this, not the only way; everything above can be done manually for free.

Quick Checklist

1. Open msinfo32 → check if VBS is Running.
2. Confirm whether you're CPU-bound (GPU under ~95% in-game).
3. Turn off Memory Integrity in Windows Security, then reboot and retest.
4. If still on, set the DeviceGuard registry value to 0.
5. Benchmark the same scene before and after so you know your real gain.

Test the difference yourself before deciding it's worth it — measure one CPU-heavy scene with VBS on and off. If the gain is within margin of error on your hardware, leave the protection on. For the rest of the picture, see our Windows 11 gaming optimization guide.