The second PC for DMA: what it needs, what to buy

What you need

• A separate computer, not the one you play on.
  An old one you already own is fine, or a cheap used one from What to buy.
• A USB 3 port on the back of it.
  USB 3.0 at least.
• Any modern processor with 4 cores or more, and 8GB of memory.
  16GB is comfortable.
• Windows.
  Almost everything you run on this side is Windows software.
• Its own screen, keyboard and mouse, or a way to share the ones you already have.

Nothing goes inside this machine. The card lives in your main PC and reaches this one by cable, so there's no slot to find on this side.

What it is for

Your card reads memory from your main PC and sends it down the cable to this machine, which runs the software and shows you what it finds. None of that runs on the PC you play on, which is why it has to be a separate machine.

It does a few other jobs too:

• Flashing.
  You flash the card from here with MewTools, our free tool, over the card's JTAG port. Flashing your firmware walks you through it.
• Your aim device.
  MAKCU and FERRUM take their commands from this machine, so one of their cables plugs in here: the middle port on a MAKCU, the right USB-C on a FERRUM. Plan on a free USB port for it.
• MiTM.
  If you buy MiTM, its software runs on this machine and your slot is locked to its hardware ID, so use the machine you plan to keep. We can move it if you replace the machine. For MiTM, it can't be a laptop.

How much computer

• A newer processor beats more cores.
  Past 4 cores, a newer, faster chip is a better use of your money than extra cores.
• Blurred's minimum.
  On top of the list above, Blurred wants an SSD and Windows 10 or 11. It doesn't run on Linux. For mid we suggest 6 cores and 16GB, for high 8 cores or more and an NVMe SSD. The SSD makes the machine nicer to use, but it doesn't make the card any faster.
• Graphics only matter for a fuser.
  Integrated graphics are fine for reading the card, since this machine isn't rendering a game. A fuser needs the right video output, and the 4K Pro needs real graphics. Which second PC works with which fuser goes through it.

A cheap mini PC, an old office desktop or an old laptop all work. Can I use a DMA card with a laptop? says where a laptop fits.

What to buy

We don't sell a second computer. A used office mini PC does the job and costs less than anyone could sell you one for new.

• Dell OptiPlex 7060, 7070 or 7080 Micro.
  6 cores with an i5 or i7 (i3 models have 4), and usually 16GB. About $150 to $180 used for a 7060 or 7070, $200 to $250 for a 7080.
• Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q or M80q.
  Same idea, same size. About $165 to $180 used with 16GB.
• A new Intel N100 or N150 mini PC.
  4 cores, 16GB and a 512GB SSD, sealed in the box. About $220 to $250.
• Skip anything with 2 cores.
  eBay is full of cheap old mini PCs with 2-core processors, and they're below the minimum.

Search eBay for OptiPlex 7070 Micro, OptiPlex 7060 Micro, OptiPlex 7080 Micro, ThinkCentre M720q or N100 mini PC. Prices are from September 2026 and they move.

Before you pay

• The power adapter is in the listing. Lots of cheap ones leave it out.
• It has an SSD. "No SSD" or "barebones" means you buy one separately.
• It has Windows, or you're happy installing it. "No OS" means a blank drive.
• The processor is named. If the listing doesn't say which one, ask or skip it.
• It won't come with a keyboard, mouse or screen. A cheap wired keyboard and mouse is about $15. Seeing and controlling both machines covers the screen.
• Check the video ports. Most OptiPlex Micros only have DisplayPort, unless the listing shows the optional HDMI port. A plain DisplayPort to HDMI cable, about $10, is fine for an ordinary 60Hz monitor. For a fuser, check Which second PC works with which fuser first.
• No BIOS password or company lock. Ex-office machines sometimes still have one. Skip a listing that mentions a BIOS password, "BIOS locked" or a company sign-in screen. Dell only removes a BIOS admin password for the proven owner, and Microsoft says a PC still registered to a company's Windows Autopilot can only be released by that company.
• The seller takes returns. If it shows up dead, that's what covers you.

Want us to find one for you?

Open a ticket in our Discord with your budget and your country, and we'll find you a listing. It's free and only takes us a few minutes.

Please read

We don't sell these and we aren't the seller. Anything we recommend here or in a ticket is only a recommendation, so we aren't responsible for the listing, the seller, shipping, returns or anything that goes wrong with the machine. Check the listing yourself before you pay, and sort any problem out with the seller or eBay.

Ports and cables

Most connection problems come from here. The link is only as fast as the slower of the port and the cable, and most people only check the port. A USB 3 card in a USB 3 port with a USB 2 cable is a USB 2 connection.

The port

• USB 3.0 at least, sometimes written USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.2 Gen 1. All three names mean the same 5 Gbps.
• USB 2.0 isn't enough.
  The card will often still show up in one, but it's far too slow to use. If a speed test fails, check the port and the cable before anything else.
• Use the rear ports, straight into the motherboard.
  Front and top ports go through a cable inside the case and can cause dropouts. They can work, but rear is more reliable.
• Color is only a hint.
  Blue usually means USB 3.0, teal usually means 10 Gbps, black or white usually means USB 2.0. Red or yellow usually marks a charging port. Manufacturers don't always follow it, so check the manual for your board if you can.

The cable

• Use the one that came with the card. Ours is already the right one.
• A USB-C cable isn't automatically a fast cable.
  Lots of them are charging cables with USB 2.0 wiring inside, and those either don't work or run badly.
• Keep it short.
  A meter is ideal. Past two meters, ordinary cables get unreliable.
• If you're replacing it, buy one rated for the same generation as your card, and buy a decent one. Saving $5 on a cable isn't worth the headache.

Does a faster port make the card faster?

Not for most cards. They connect through a USB 3.0 bridge chip and top out around 200 MB/s. A 5 Gbps port carries that with room to spare, so a 10 Gbps or 20 Gbps port does nothing for you.

The exception is Thunderbolt cards. They're a different class of speed, and they need a real Thunderbolt port, or a USB4 port that supports Thunderbolt 3 devices. A USB-C port that only carries USB isn't one, even though it looks the same.

So what does a 35T, 75T or 100T ask for?

Those numbers are the size of the FPGA chip on the card, not the speed of its connection. A bigger number means more room for firmware, which Why the 100T covers. The connection is a separate chip. Our 100T uses an FT601, which is USB 3.0, and so do most cards. So a 35T, a 75T and a 100T all need the same thing: one rear USB 3.0 port and the cable that came in the box. Only a card with a different link, like Thunderbolt, needs something else.

Give it a controller to itself

A motherboard shares its USB ports between a few controllers. Plug the card in directly, never through a hub. Try not to share its group of ports with something that streams all the time, like a webcam or a capture card. If you get random stutters, moving the cable to a different group of rear ports usually fixes it.

How many USB ports you need

Count them before you buy:

• The card.
  One rear USB 3 port. The same cable goes on the card's JTAG port while you flash and on its data port after, so it's one port either way.
• An aim device.
  One more, for MAKCU's middle cable or FERRUM's right-hand one.
• A capture card, if you use one.
  Another USB 3 port.
• A keyboard and mouse.
  Two more, unless a KVM switch handles them.

A card, an aim device and a keyboard and mouse come to four. The OptiPlex 7070 Micro, for example, has four USB ports on the back and two on the front.

Only USB-C ports?

The cable in the box is USB-C at the card end and USB-A at the computer end. On a computer with only USB-C ports, keep that cable and add a short USB-C to USB-A adapter rated USB 3 (5 Gbps or faster). Whether a USB-C to USB-C cable works straight from the card: TBD.

Seeing and controlling both machines

A second monitor, keyboard and mouse is the simplest, if you have the room. A KVM switch shares one set between both machines with a button to swap. A video fuser puts both pictures on one screen at once, but it only carries the picture, so you still need a keyboard and mouse or a KVM for this machine. Do I need a video fuser? compares them, plus the free option: your monitor's second input.

What does not matter

• Gaming performance and the graphics card.
  It isn't playing anything.
• Age.
  Older hardware is fine if it has USB 3 and 4 cores or more.
• How it looks.
  Nobody sees it.

Before you buy

All five ticked means your second computer is ready. When the card arrives, Second computer setup walks you through connecting it.