What is a DMA? Cards, firmware and how DMA cheats work
If you are new to hardware cheating, every product page mentions the same few things — DMA cards, firmware, a second PC, a MAKCU. This guide explains what each piece is, what it does, and why the combination is so hard for anti-cheat software to catch.
The short version
DMA is short for Direct Memory Access. A DMA card is a small PCIe board that can read a computer's RAM on its own, without asking that computer's CPU or operating system for permission. Put one in your gaming PC, connect it to a second PC, and the second PC can watch the game's memory in real time — positions, health, loot — while the gaming PC runs nothing unusual at all. That separation is the whole trick.
The DMA card
The card slots into a free PCI-Express slot on the gaming PC and connects to the second PC with a USB 3.0 cable. It streams memory to the second machine, where the Fave DMA software turns raw data into ESP, radar and aim decisions.
Boards are usually named after their FPGA size — 35T, 75T and 100T are the common ones. Bigger chips mean faster reads and support for more advanced firmware. The 75T card we stock is the sweet spot for every Fave DMA product; smaller 35T boards also work fine.
How a DMA cheat actually works
Three parts run at once: the game on your main PC, the DMA card silently copying its memory, and the cheat on the second PC interpreting that memory. Because the cheat never executes on the gaming machine, the anti-cheat there has no process to scan, no driver to flag and no injected code to find. All it can see is a PC playing a game.
Why "read-only" matters
A DMA card is technically able to write to memory as well as read it. Writing is how people get banned: changing a value the game did not expect is easy for an anti-cheat to notice. Every Fave DMA product is strictly read-only — we look, we never touch — which is the safest way to use the hardware.
Firmware: the part that keeps you safe
Out of the box a DMA card announces itself to Windows as exactly what it is, and modern anti-cheats blacklist those IDs. Custom firmware rewrites how the card presents itself so it looks like an ordinary, harmless device. Two grades exist:
- Basic firmware copies the identifiers of a real device and stops there. It is usually enough for anti-cheats such as EAC and BattlEye.
- 1:1 emulated firmware goes further and answers every query the operating system or anti-cheat sends exactly the way the real device would. Some anti-cheats actively probe hardware; emulated firmware is built to pass those probes.
We sell 1:1 emulated firmware for ACE, BattlEye, EAC, RICO and Vanguard, including private slotted builds shared by only a handful of cards. Whatever firmware you use, keep it current — outdated firmware is the number-one cause of DMA bans.
Input devices: MAKCU, Ferrum, KMBox, Teensy
ESP only needs the card. Aimbot and triggerbot need a way to move your mouse without software on the gaming PC, and that is what an input device does: it sits between the second PC and the gaming PC and impersonates a real mouse, so aim corrections arrive as genuine USB input. MAKCU and Ferrum are the devices we recommend and stock; KMBox Net, KMBox B+ Pro, Teensy and Arduino boards are supported too.
Fusers and EDID
By default the ESP is drawn on the second PC's monitor. A Fuser merges that overlay onto your main display, so you play on one screen. Fusers report a monitor identity (EDID) to the gaming PC; most, including the 6th Gen Fuser we sell, let you change that identity to match a common monitor for extra caution. A Fuser is a convenience, not a requirement.
Can you still get banned?
Yes. DMA is the safest method available, not an invisibility cloak. Bans come from two directions: firmware that an anti-cheat has learned to recognise, and gameplay so blatant that reports get you reviewed by a human. Run undetected firmware, keep the aimbot humanised, and you remove almost all of the risk.
Shopping list
- Two Windows 10/11 machines — the gaming PC and a second PC or laptop for the cheat
- A DMA card running undetected firmware
- An input device (MAKCU, Ferrum, KMBox Net/B+, Teensy or Arduino) if you want aimbot or triggerbot
- Optionally a Fuser for single-monitor play
Everything above is on our firmware & hardware page; the software itself is on the products page. If you are unsure what fits your budget, ask in Discord and we will put a list together.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really need two computers?
Yes. The cheat has to run somewhere other than the gaming PC, otherwise there is nothing to gain. The second machine can be modest — it only reads memory and draws an overlay.
Is the card the same thing as the firmware?
No. The card is the physical board; the firmware is the program flashed onto it that decides how it identifies itself. You need both, and the firmware is what determines whether the card stays undetected.
Which part is "undetected", the cheat or the firmware?
The cheat software never touches the gaming PC, so there is nothing for an anti-cheat to detect there. The firmware is the only component the anti-cheat can inspect, which is why we insist on 1:1 emulated builds.
Can I use one DMA setup for several games?
Yes. The hardware is game-agnostic; only the software and, in some cases, the firmware profile change between titles.
What does a complete setup cost?
Beyond a subscription (from €7.50 a week), budget for a DMA card, firmware and an input device. Our hardware page lists current prices for each part.