Great setup!
Oh I fully understand. If I were testing for detection and protection then definitely I would just run it in a VM since the chances of a VM aware malware is low. However, I am performance testing my own setup to see which one of the solutions has the lowest impact on my system. Afterall, .the detection probability delta between those solutions is less than 1.5% thus not worth fighting over. Who cares if you have a 99.99% detection but the solution brings your I-14900K at 50Terahertz down to 8086?
I am testing it against office suites PCMark, gaming benchmarks running 3DMark, Assassin Creed Vikings Benchmark and Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark. The runs are both with the AV running as it would normally run when playing a game and another test with the AV actively scanning.
I am not using some special testing methology in order to be exactly accurate since, I am not benching this for anyone else but my own personal satisfaction. Also, so I can proudly show my wife an amazing Excel graph regarding performance and watch her sigh, roll her eyes and walk away shaking her head (that test is to prove that; disapproving your husband's hobby does not cause blindness).