If your requirement of PC is just casual communication, browsing and entertainment then you dont need any AV. But if you keep any critical data on your system, or even communicate some, use it for bank transactions, its better to have AV module running as first layer of defence for PCs. Firewalls and NIDS are ok for network level defense but you need seperate security mechanisms for your PC. PC firewall, spyware/malware detection. rootkit detection and AV are need of the hour. Off course these things take some cpu cycles and memory, so you have to take judgment call from cost of these modules vs cost of your data.
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