How DMA cheats work: from the PCIe card to the radar on the second PC

A DMA cheat does not run on the gaming computer at all. It reads the game memory from outside, through a hardware card, and processes it on a second computer. That is the main difference from regular internal and external builds. A short overview of the hardware is in DMA explained; here is how the whole chain works.

1. The DMA card in the gaming PC

A PCIe card (usually based on an FPGA) is installed in a free slot of the gaming computer. Thanks to direct memory access it can read the RAM of that PC without any program running in Windows.

2. Firmware

The card works with firmware that defines how it introduces itself to the system. Firmware must match your card model; ready-made images are collected in the DMA firmware section.

3. The second computer

The card is connected by USB to a second PC or laptop. The DMA software runs there: it finds the game process in the memory of the first PC and reads player positions, health, items and so on.

4. Output: radar or ESP

• Radar — a map with players on the second screen or in a browser.
• ESP through a fuser — a video mixer overlays the picture from the second PC on the game image.

The functions themselves are the same as in classic builds — see What is ESP.

What you need

• A DMA card and suitable firmware;
• a second PC or laptop with USB 3.0;
• a DMA build for your game;
• optionally a fuser or a second monitor.

Where to start

Open the DMA cheats section and choose your game — the product page lists supported cards and requirements.