Bitcoin Forum

Which OS is considered the most efficient to mine BTC?

I think I read windows is, due to best ATI driver support.  May not be true anymore

it is what ever you are Proficient with

Here's an interesting question: Modern OS's tend to utilize GPU to make rasterization of the UI more efficient and clean (e.g. reduced aliasing, tearing, etc.) Windows is no exception. That said, what is the best OS/configuration combo to be able to dedicate all of the GPU to just mining?

Linux is difficult to do this with as well, by the way. You actually have to use a screen blanking screensaver in order to avoid this. This is mainly caused by the fact that OpenCL refuses to run unless it has an X server running.

You can edit the Windows registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Edit SHELL replacing windows.exe with cmd.exe

Reboot and you get no desktop.

You get a command prompt, just like Safe Mode, but with all your drivers.

and why would I want to do that?

Similar to a core install in Windows Server.

On my machine I get about 1/3 the number of processes in Task Manager.

Everything works, but without all the bloat of a desktop I get a noticeable boost in performance.

Hash rates are similar, but there I see less lag when using the computer for other tasks.

From the cgminer documentation:

I mine with a windows box and a debian box and it seems to me that windows was easiest to set up. I think due to the fact that I was able to find more up to date documentation for windows when I ran into issues. As far as hash rates, they're very similar. I've only been mining a few weeks and haven't had any crashes on either OS yet so I can't really speak to stability.

huh, this is very cool - thanks for the tip!!

(I assume you can run c:\windows\explorer.exe if you decide you want gui?)

Linux is probably the best!

Definitely linux if you plan on scaling up/out your mining operation. Just because remote management (SSH) becomes easier with more rigs, scripting and Windows sometimes has issues running more than 4 cards in a rig.

If you're a small operation, starting up or a novice just stick with Windows. Linux will drive you nuts unless you like learning something new  ;)

Only when you're a linux guru or have one near you. Once I spent 1 day trying to build Unbuntu based rig.

I guess biggest hurdle when setting up linux for GPU mining is installing fglrx, ATI/AMD RadeonHD display driver.
I'm using latest driver v13.4 packaged for Debian:

http://packages.qa.debian.org/f/fglrx-driver.html

My individual findings.

Single Rig (getting started):   Windows > Linux > OSX (mac)
Cluster:    Linux > Windows > OSX

The economies of scale would only really kick in around 5+ machines to make linux worthwhile. And it relies on you feeling more comfortable with linux administration

Windows 7

Or Linux

I was in the OS choice situation myself some time ago, and I ended up simply picking Windows 7, after seeing that a reasonable amout of high scores on the hardware/config (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison) list were done on Windows 7 machines.

If you have a spare USB stick lying around, BAMT Linux (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=65915.0) is sweet as well. It's super fast to set up, and the command line work is really not that difficult.

The only reason I chose Windows 7 over BAMT was comfort. I simply have more experience with Windows software than Linux software.

Honestly, whatever you are familiar with

if it would take you an extra hour to figure out linux, thats 1 hour of mining you lost

It doesn't really matter, you should pick the one you're more comfortable with.

The more time you spend to maintain your system, to make it work, not crashing, the less time it mines.

I do prefer Linux, but it's because I know Linux way better than Windows.

However, mining on OS X is a tricky one, so, pick Windows or Linux as you prefer...

i personally checked Linux and Windows and there is no difference at all

I've had good luck with Win7. Win8 gave me trouble occasionally, and I could never get the hashrates I wanted out of linux.

Windows 7 working well for me.

Disable aero and all nonsense.

I will try with Xubuntu 13.04
What do you think about ?

Linux is easy with BAMT , though there hasn't been any updates for awhile

I have a little more hashrate on Windows 8 than Ubuntu however it isn't so big to make a real difference.

maybe linux, but from my experience for multi GPU Win is best...

w7 is rly good...

Until now I can't still find a way to run my miner.

My experience as a newbie miner with single PC: tried both Xubuntu and Win7, and I'd suggest to go straight on with the latter (unless, as told before, you plan building a rig).

Windows without a doubt :D

If the vga is doing all the job, with the propper drivers shouldnt be any problem, but if the CPU does some of the job too, maybe a littleweight windows should help too

Linux if you are developing any and all bitcoin services

I am surprised how often the alt coins put Windows releases first just to get a sugar rush of adopters.

I use Linux but compiling coin daemon for solo might be some task.
For example in JunkCoin it didn't work but it might have been that that was only for junk os like windows :)

"BEST" OS?  depends on way too many variables to be a useful question IMHO.

Personally,  I get mad at windows constantly for silly things  (like making it difficult to capture low level event subsystem information,  or some of the silly "Oh no,  you shouldn't be doing something this way"  messages you get.

Honestly though,  main workstation these days is a windows 7 machine, with about 40 putty windows,  12 RDP sessions, and 5 VNC sessions.   

Mining:  I've always preferred any custom linux distro.  all it takes is drivers + an application that can send work to cards.   

If you are looking to install an OS just for mining, you might want to check into [Bit-OS](https://sourceforge.net/projects/bit-os), which is a poject based on Ubuntu/Linux Mint with a Bitcoin mining screensaver all setup for you out of the box.

If you are just going to be using the machine for mining check out [BAMT](https://github.com/aaronwolfe/Big-A-Miner-Thing/wiki/Faq), however I didn't see a difference in hashrates running either, so for ease of setup and useability I would use Bit-OS.

BAMT can run from a bootable USB, which is really cool, especially if you want run Windows. You can dual boot essentially without wiping Windows. Ofcourse, if you are running Windows it might be time to switch to Linux, and Linux Mint Cinnamon kind of aimed to feel like Windows XP, whereas Linux Mint Mate is more like Mac OSX ...

Anyway, come to the dark side, come to Linux.

Pretty much what everyone said here, whoever has the best amd driver support. Probably windows OS, and I'm not 100% sure, but i think the drivers are somewhat configurable so u can also mold them to do your bidding and be better utilized. ultimately tho, Asics are so utterly devouring GPU and FPGA mining in price/performance that it doesn't really matter

linux maybe easy remote control or compile tools

Another option is to grab a raspberry pi and mine with that... As the difficulty skyrockets the price of electricity is going to significantly affect the profitability of units.  The self contained units (ala KNC) that have linux running on them are likely to be more efficient than others (BFL - which needs to be plugged into a host.)

I use windows 7 but I'm starting.