NOVAWill your PC run today's anti-cheat?
More and more games refuse to start unless Windows' security features are on. Here's what each one needs, how to check, and how NOVA stays out of games and their anti-cheat.
What each anti-cheat needs
| Game | Needs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Valorant, League of Legends (Riot Vanguard), on Windows 11 | TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot | Riot: VAN 9001, VAN 9003 |
| Vanguard On-Demand (Riot's optional mode that only runs while you play) | Windows 11 25H2 or newer, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, IOMMU, and Memory Integrity (VBS and HVCI) | Riot: Vanguard Pre-Check |
| FACEIT | TPM 2.0 (since November 25, 2025), and Memory Integrity on PCs where its anti-cheat asks for it | FACEIT, FACEIT: Memory Integrity |
| Battlefield 6 | Secure Boot | Neowin |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot | Tom's Hardware |
Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 (Intel PTT or AMD fTPM) are switched on in your PC's BIOS. Memory Integrity is in Windows Security › Device security › Core isolation.
How NOVA checks it
NOVA's Checkup reads all of these in one go: Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, Memory Integrity, IOMMU and your Windows version. For the anti-cheats on your PC it says whether each game will start, and if something is off, which BIOS or Windows setting to change. It only reads; it never switches security on or off by itself.
It also flags kernel drivers that other tools leave behind, such as WinRing0 and inpoutx64. Some anti-cheats refuse to start while those are loaded.
How NOVA stays out of games
- Nothing inside the game. NOVA never injects code into a game, hooks it, or reads or writes its memory, and it never changes a game's program files.
- Per-game settings go through Windows and the graphics driver. GPU preference, fullscreen optimizations, network priority, CPU priority and NVIDIA profile settings are stored in Windows' and the driver's own per-program settings, which apply them when the game starts.
- Game settings files. A few tweaks change a setting such as V-Sync in a game's own settings file, the same file its options menu saves. Only when you turn them on, and they never make the file read-only.
- One exception. "Keep on the fastest cores" gives a running game a CPU-core hint, which means opening its process. NOVA never does that for a game protected by anti-cheat, or while any anti-cheat is running.
- Background apps, not the game. During a game session, NOVA can lower the priority of known background apps. It leaves the game, its launcher and anti-cheat services alone.
- The overlay is NOVA's own window. NOVA's in-game overlay is a separate, click-through window. Its frame-time data comes from Intel PresentMon, which reads Windows' own event tracing, as does NOVA's game connection monitor. No capture driver, nothing hooked.
Drivers
NOVA installs no kernel driver of its own for tuning or sensors: no WinRing0, inpoutx64 or PawnIO. The one driver it can install is for the optional controller and mouse polling overclock: hidusbf, a signed USB filter driver, in a build that works with Memory Integrity on. Some anti-cheats and tournament rules restrict drivers or modified input devices, so check your game's rules before overclocking. One click puts the device back to stock.
Security NOVA won't switch off
NOVA never turns a security feature off by default. Turning off Memory Integrity is an Advanced tweak you have to choose yourself, and before it applies, NOVA warns that Vanguard On-Demand needs Memory Integrity and FACEIT asks for it on some PCs. It names Vanguard when it's installed. Microsoft Defender, SmartScreen, the vulnerable-driver blocklist and CPU security mitigations aren't touched at all. Why we leave those alone →
No tool can promise a game won't ban you. Only the anti-cheat's maker decides what it allows. NOVA's rule is to stay out of game processes, the same caution other tools learned the hard way: Process Lasso, for one, added a mandatory delay before changing CPU affinity on Easy Anti-Cheat's launcher (Bitsum's change log). If a game's support ever tells you a NOVA setting is a problem, every change NOVA makes can be undone from its History page.
More
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