Does BRUTAL or Guardian slow down my PC?

Short, honest answer: no. BRUTAL and its Guardian background optimizer are not meant to slow your PC down, and in normal use they don't. This page explains exactly what runs, how often, and what to do in the rare case you do see something off.

How Guardian actually runs

Guardian (it starts for everyone; its deep optimization engines are Pro) is plain C# code running inside the BRUTAL app itself. There is no separate Windows service, no extra scheduled task, and no PowerShell process spawned in the background. If the app isn't open, Guardian isn't running.

The schedule is light by design:

• First cycle: about 5 seconds after the app launches.
• After that: a cycle every 3 minutes.
• Low memory, on Pro: when a cycle finds free memory running low and no game is running, it trims working sets, at most every 10 minutes. It never trims while a game it recognises is running.

Idle CPU use is negligible and the memory footprint is modest. To learn what each Guardian cycle does, see What is Guardian.

If you ever see sustained high CPU or RAM

This is uncommon, but if BRUTAL is holding high CPU or memory for a long stretch — not just a brief spike during a cycle — here's what to check:

1. Look for a stuck scan, for example a disk, driver, or app-update scan that hasn't finished. Cancel it and let things settle.
2. If usage stays high after that, report it so it can be looked into. See Contact support for what to include (your app version, Windows version, steps, and the Guardian log).

FAQ

Does Guardian add a background service that runs even when the app is closed?
No. It's part of the app, not a standalone service or scheduled task. Close the app and Guardian stops.

Will Guardian eat my RAM while I play?
It's the opposite — on Pro, while you game, Guardian lowers the memory priority of background apps such as launcher web helpers, cloud sync and Spotify, so Windows takes memory back from them first if your game needs it.

It feels like something is using too much CPU — what now?
Check for a stuck scan first, then report it via Contact support with your details and the Guardian log.