System Requirements
PowerAim runs on Windows 10 and 11 (x64). It is a desktop WPF app built on .NET 10 with native dependencies for screen capture, inference, and virtual input devices.
Minimum
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 1903+ or Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| CPU | 4-core x64, 2.5 GHz or faster |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| GPU | DirectX 11 capable, 2 GB VRAM (any DirectML-compatible GPU) |
| Disk | 500 MB for the app + bundled models |
| .NET | .NET Runtime 10 (x64) |
| VC++ Redist | x64 Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable |
Recommended
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| CPU | 8-core x64, 3.5 GHz or faster |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| GPU | RTX 2060 / RX 5600 XT or better, 6 GB+ VRAM |
| Display | 144 Hz or higher (DXGI capture matches your refresh rate) |
The bundled Performance Benchmark (Models tab → “Run Benchmark”) tells you exactly which model resolution your hardware can sustain at 60+ FPS. See Models — Using models.
Optional drivers
PowerAim works without any of these, but some features depend on them.
ViGEmBus (recommended for any gamepad feature)
Required for PowerAim to emit virtual Xbox 360 controller events. Without it:
- The “Use controller for aim” toggle stays disabled
- Controller mapping (KB → Pad direction) cannot synthesize gamepad input
- The trigger system cannot send
GamepadSlider.RightTrigger-style actions
Install from vigembusdriver.com or via PowerAim’s Gamepad settings page — there’s a “Get ViGEmBus driver” button that opens the site for you.
HidHide (optional)
Cloaks your physical Xbox controller from games when running mapping profiles. Useful when the game would otherwise see both your real and virtual controllers at once. PowerAim ships the installer — see Hidden Controllers.
Tesseract data (eng.traineddata)
Only needed for the OCR HUD reader. PowerAim downloads it on first use into %LocalAppData%/PowerAim/tessdata.
Ollama
Only needed for AutoPlay. PowerAim talks to an Ollama instance at http://localhost:11434 (configurable). Install from ollama.com and pull a vision model like moondream, llava:7b, or qwen2.5-vl:7b.
vJoy (optional alternative to ViGEm)
The Gamepad settings page also offers vJoy as a virtual gamepad backend. ViGEm is the default and recommended choice — vJoy is kept as a fallback for older systems.
DirectML vs. CUDA build
PowerAim ships two builds:
| Build | When to use |
|---|---|
| DirectML (default) | Works on every DX12 GPU — NVIDIA, AMD, Intel Arc, integrated. Smaller download. |
CUDA (_cuda variant) |
NVIDIA cards only, but typically 10–25% faster inference for the same model size. Requires CUDA 12.x runtime on the system. |
The Settings page has a one-click “Switch to DirectML / CUDA” button if you want to swap builds without uninstalling.
If you’re not sure which build you have, look at the title bar — CUDA builds show “(CUDA)” after the version number on the About page.