If you want to know, you can PM me or start a thread but no more none Windows comments please.

Apologies for my delayed reply also - though this thread seems to have picked up plenty of momentum from others.
I wouldn't suggest my approach for new users and have made that point previously - firewalls and process protection are only as good as the rules they are configured with. However anti-virus software is never 100% effective, and it can't cope with targeted attacks (where malware is modified or created for a specific target) at all.

As for sacrifice, it isn't that I don't want the latest games or hardware, it's that I don't consider them worth the price of giving up a security setup that for me, so far, has been 100% effective.
I don't know enough about that situation to offer any advice.

My suggestion would be to avoid Windows 10 due to its bundled adware and
effectively compulsory spyware - that link refers to the Win10 technical preview but
Microsoft's Privacy Policy has, if anything, gotten worse notably in collecting the following data:

Interactions. Data about your use of Microsoft products. In some cases, such as search queries, this is data you provide in order to make use of the products. In other cases, such as error reports, this is data we generate. Other examples of interactions data include:
...
Interests and favourites. Data about your interests and favourites, such as the sports teams you follow, the programming languages you prefer, the stocks you track, or cities you add to track things like weather or traffic. In addition to those you explicitly provide, your interests and favourites can also be inferred or derived from other data we collect.
...
Voice data. Your voice data, such as the search queries or commands you speak, which may include background sounds.
...
Contacts and relationships. Data about your contacts and relationships if you use a product to share information with others, manage contacts, communicate with others, or improve your productivity.
Social data. Information about your relationships and interactions between you, other people, and organisations, such as types of engagement (e.g., likes, dislikes, events, etc.) related to people and organisations.
Location data. Data about your device’s location, which can be either precise or imprecise. For example, we collect location data using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (e.g., GPS) and data about nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots.

However if games are the priority, that does steer someone towards Windows, and to that end I would suggest Windows 8.1 since that offers official support for DirectX12 - it is also noticeably faster than Win10 without the same level of spyware (though there are still privacy settings that need revision). It's second-rate UI can be "fixed" using Classic Shell/Open Shell.

For security I would suggest perusing the Other Firewalls forum at Wilders and installing one of the top performers (such as Comodo, Outpost or Jetico - many of which won't work on Win10 now due to MS updates). Then look at a top-flight anti-virus scanner - those achieving an Advanced+ certification in the March 2020 AV Comparatives Test would be a good choice.

Then take a look at the Other Anti-malware Software forum to consider further options. There are a lot of options available, and I would add a note of caution - it's better to have 2 or 3 security utilities that you know well, than 10+ that you understand poorly.