+1 for linux
These are my experiences mining on Ubuntu and XP
- XP idled between 10-15 % CPU usage
- Ubuntu idles at 1.5-2 %
- With XP the gui ran terrible while mining, making vnc run verrry slow
- With Ubuntu I do everything through SSH and it responds without a stutter
- I was able to OC on XP using gui tools without needing to flash the graphic card's BIOS
- In Ubuntu, AMDOverdriveCtrl was limited to 900Mhz core and I couldn't drop the memory down to 300Mhz like I could in XP. I made a quick change to the BIOS using RBE and flashed it with a DOS flash drive (very easy) now I can achieve the same speeds as I could on XP.
- Without making some sort of custom PE disk XP runs on a HDD, which generates heat and consumes power
- Ubuntu runs right from a flash drive eliminating HDD heat and reducing power consumption
Not to mention the obvious security advantages of Linux over Windows out of the box.
I'm sure some will state that Windows is be better for their setup, but certainly not me.