Games and AntiVirus: Can they live together?

[DarkLeftos]

Every single day new viruses are created, some more harmful, others less, but our computers are always vulnerable to new threats (well, that is until Microsoft releases its bug- and security-hole free version of Windows, which in two days, will have security holes too.)

Most of you (if not all) who read this thread, have games installed in your PCs. So the question is, can decent AVs and Games live together happily in one PC?

With a good processor and 1GB of 400MHz ram, yeah it is absolutely possible. But what happens with people that have older processors and 512MB ram maximum?

I'm not looking for suggestions like "C'mon mate, buy some more RAM, and make sure it's fast... Hey, don't buy DDR, buy SDRAM." Not all of us can spend that money on RAM, or even at our computers at all. I'm 15 years old, I know I can't.

So, is separate service and hardware profiles the solution (search the internet if you don't know what these are)? Or have you managed to get Games and a decent AV to live together in your PC, without having half the RAM you buyed free in the end and still having those lightning fast loadings, some other way?

Whatever you think/have done, say it... Make sure you give some decent info on your computer if you do.

I'm on a 2700+ Athlon XP with 2x256MB Ram (333MHz). I don't use any AV currently, although I've only been hit by two viruses in the lifetime of my PC, Netsky (or Skynet, depending on the AV) and another one, I think RDBot, or something.