What do I need for a DMA setup
The complete DMA shopping list, worked out from three questions: what you play, whether you want aim assistance, and where the overlay goes. Your answers tell you which layers to buy.
Short answer
Every DMA build needs a card in a free gaming-PC slot, firmware for that exact board, and a second Windows PC. A USB 3 data cable links them, while aim assistance adds an input device and a main-monitor overlay adds a fuser.
On this page11
- Which questions decide what you buy?
- What every build needs
- What to buy for the build you want
- What is the cheapest build that works?
- Do you need aim assistance?
- Where should the overlay go?
- What each part costs compared with an entry card
- What to check before you order
- What you don't need on a first order
- Questions about the shopping list
- Sources
Which questions decide what you buy?
There is no single DMA shopping list. There are six, and three questions you can answer right now tell you which one is yours. The first is what you play, because firmware and software support is per title, and a build for a title nobody supports will not do anything. The second is whether you want aim assistance, because reading memory cannot move a mouse, so a yes adds a whole device. The third is where you want the overlay, which decides whether you use a monitor you already own or buy the most expensive optional part in the stack. Once you have those three answers, choosing the parts is a simple lookup.
What every build needs
These four layers are part of every build, in every configuration and at every budget. If a listing or a forum post leaves one of them out, the list is incomplete and you will end up buying twice.
| Layer | What it does | Can you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| DMA card | An FPGA board in the gaming PC that reads physical memory and streams it out over USB. | No. This is the architecture. |
| Firmware | The bitstream flashed onto that board. Decides what PCIe device the gaming PC believes it has. | No. Without it the card is not usefully visible. |
| Second PC | A separate Windows machine that receives the memory stream and runs the game software. | No. The machine being read cannot be the machine doing the reading. |
| USB 3 data cable | Carries the stream from the card's data port to a rear USB 3 port on the second PC. | No, and a charge-only cable does not count as having one. |
A free PCIe or M.2 slot with physical clearance is a fifth requirement, but it is something you check rather than something you buy.
What to buy for the build you want
Find the row that matches what you actually want. The middle column is what to order, and the right column is what people often buy anyway and then never use.
| What you want | What you have to buy | What you can skip |
|---|---|---|
| Radar only, on a second screen | Card, firmware, second PC, USB 3 cable, any spare monitor | Input device, fuser, capture card |
| Radar only, on a phone or tablet | Card, firmware, second PC, USB 3 cable, a local network between the two machines | Input device, fuser, second monitor |
| ESP on a second screen | Card, firmware, second PC, USB 3 cable, a monitor good enough to read boxes on | Input device, fuser |
| ESP on your main monitor | All of the above plus a fuser and both of its video cables | Input device |
| Radar or ESP plus aim assistance | Card, firmware, second PC, USB 3 cable, monitor, input device, a second USB cable for it | Fuser |
| Full ESP plus aim, overlay on the main monitor | Every layer: card, firmware, second PC, cable, monitor, input device, fuser, video cables | Nothing. This is the whole stack. |
Every row above the last one is a complete build in its own right rather than a cut-down version of the last row, and most people never need the last row.
What is the cheapest build that works?
The cheapest configuration that works is a radar on a second screen. Every part on this list is required, and none of it is padding.
- Gaming PC
- One free PCIe slot (x1 electrically is enough) with clearance beside the GPU
- DMA card
- Entry FPGA class, in a form factor that fits that slot
- Firmware
- An image published for your exact board revision, not just its FPGA class
- Second PC
- Any Windows machine with a rear USB 3 port. No graphics card needed
- Cable
- One USB 3 data-rated cable, card data port to rear USB 3 port
- Display
- Any spare monitor on the second PC. A 1080p panel is plenty for a radar
- Software
- A build that supports the title you play, and a live status row worth buying into
- Not included
- Input device, fuser, capture card, spoofer
Warning
Do you need aim assistance?
Aim assistance is the question people most often get wrong. Reading memory gives you information and nothing else: a radar, a box, a loot list. It physically cannot move your cursor, because the read path is one-directional and runs on another machine. Moving the cursor needs a separate device that the gaming PC accepts as a real USB mouse. If a product page promises aim assistance but never mentions an input device, either it is not a DMA product or its parts list is incomplete. Decide this before you order, because adding an input device later means a second order, a second cable and a second evening.
Where should the overlay go?
There are three options, and their prices are far apart. A second monitor on the second PC costs whatever a spare panel costs you, which for most people is nothing, and it never fails in a complicated way. A phone or tablet over the local network costs nothing at all and works well for a radar. A fuser puts the overlay on your main monitor, which is nicer to play with. However, it is also the single most expensive optional part in the stack, and it has the most ways to produce a black screen. Start with a second screen, and add a fuser only when the second screen is what actually annoys you.
What each part costs compared with an entry card
Parts are listed by spec class, with the cheapest DMA card as the unit of cost. Real prices change by region and by week, so check a current listing in your own currency. The order of costs is what decides the build, and that order stays stable.
| Layer | Spec class | Cost against an entry card |
|---|---|---|
| DMA card | Entry PCIe class (35T) | The unit. Everything below is measured against it |
| DMA card | M.2 entry class, for machines with no free PCIe slot | About the same, sometimes a little more |
| DMA card | Mainstream PCIe class (75T) | Above an entry card, below double it |
| DMA card | High-headroom PCIe class (100T) | Up to roughly double an entry card |
| Second PC | Used ex-lease micro desktop, rear USB 3 | About an entry card, often less |
| Second PC | New small-form-factor mini PC, current low-power CPU | An entry card, up to a mainstream one |
| Input device | Open-source microcontroller HID board | The cheapest paid layer after the cable |
| Input device | Networked or USB HID box of the widely used class | Well under an entry card |
| Fuser | Entry 1080p or 2K class | About an entry card |
| Fuser | 4K or high-refresh class | The dearest single item. Several times an entry card |
| Capture card | 1080p60 capture with passthrough, if you go the capture route | About an entry card |
| Cable | USB 3 data-rated, short | The cheapest line in the whole build |
Firmware and software are priced by whoever publishes them, so they are not in this table. Ask for the current price rather than trusting a number from a forum post.
What to check before you order
Each of these checks has cost someone an order when it was skipped, and none of them takes more than five minutes.
- The title you play has a live, working status row, and you have checked it rather than assumed it
- Your gaming PC has a free PCIe or M.2 slot, and you have confirmed it by opening the case and looking
- There is physical clearance beside the GPU for the card you are buying
- Firmware exists for that exact board revision, not just for its FPGA class
- Your second PC has a rear-panel USB 3 port, not only front headers and a dock
- You have decided whether you want aim assistance, because that decides whether you need a whole extra device
- You have decided where the overlay goes, because that decides whether you need a fuser
- You have a USB 3 data cable, or one is included in what you are ordering
Tip
What you don't need on a first order
People often put three things on a first order that they do not need. The first is a spoofer, which deals with hardware identity after a ban and has nothing to do with making a first build work. The second is a larger FPGA, which buys headroom most builds never reach and cannot fix a bad USB cable. The third is a powerful second PC. The reading machine renders nothing, so money spent on a gaming-grade box there is money taken away from the layers that decide whether your build works at all.
Questions about the shopping list
Can I start with just the card and buy the rest later?
You can, but a card on its own does nothing you can see, and you cannot test anything until the second PC and cable are there too. Order the four required layers together, and leave only the optional ones for later.
Do I need a fuser?
Only if you want the overlay on your main monitor. A radar or ESP on a second screen needs no fuser, and that build is cheaper, simpler and has fewer ways to fail.
Can the second PC be a laptop?
Yes, a laptop makes a good second PC as long as it has a rear or side USB 3 port you can use directly, not through a dock. Whether a laptop can host the card is a separate question, and there the answer is usually no.
Do I need two monitors?
Only if you want the overlay on a screen and are not using a fuser. A spare 1080p panel is enough, and for radar use a phone or tablet over the local network can replace it.
Is any of this undetectable?
No, and a seller who says it is has told you something useful about the seller. Moving the software off the gaming machine removes a local footprint, but it does not remove the PCIe device, the input device's USB descriptor or how you behave in a match.
How much should I budget in total?
Add up the cost classes for each layer, then ask your provider what firmware and software cost. A radar-only build is the cheapest honest entry point, and a full ESP-plus-aim build on a main monitor costs several times as much.
Sources
The shopping lists, the cost ordering and the minimum build come from the team's own bench work, not from a published document.
- 01AMD/Xilinx DS180, 7 Series FPGAs overview
the 35T, 75T and 100T FPGA size classes named in the parts list
docs.amd.com
- 02
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