Large scale GPU mining, OS and miner selection

[Myffas]

There is now many option (OS and miners) to set up a new GPU farm. I think the following factors are the most important to think of when comparing options:

• Cost (initial and recurrent fees)
• Hashrate (also consider losses due to stability)
• Power consumption
• Ease of use & maintenance time

For quite a while I'm been using claymore's miners on windows 7. For my next expansion, I have 3 options in mind and I would like to know your thoughts. Legality is important for me so I consider all fees.

• Option1: Windows 10 (100$) + Claymore’s miners (1-2% fees): Hashrate seems better
• Option2: EthOS (39$ and include 16GB SSD): seems easier to manage farm
• Option3: Ubuntu: seems cheaper but requires more time to set up

Lets discuss about OS and miner selection. Your inputs are very welcome.

[eckmar]

For large scale farms i would go for ubuntu.I don't see really how it requires more time to set up (maybe if you are not used to linux or command line) since it's much faster to install and require less space. Downside of ubuntu is that there are not a lot of software for remote management

[Myffas]

For large scale farms i would go for ubuntu.I don't see really how it requires more time to set up (maybe if you are not used to linux or command line) since it's much faster to install and require less space. Downside of ubuntu is that there are not a lot of software for remote management

Have you experienced other drawback using Ubuntu? I have heard that the hashrate may be lower than Windows setup.

[eckmar]

For large scale farms i would go for ubuntu.I don't see really how it requires more time to set up (maybe if you are not used to linux or command line) since it's much faster to install and require less space. Downside of ubuntu is that there are not a lot of software for remote management

Have you experienced other drawback using Ubuntu? I have heard that the hashrate may be lower than Windows setup.

Depends on miner optimization. Usually not true. Ubuntu is not that great if you want to overclock though but for bios modding much more stable than windows (even preferred) so would be great if you are using RX cards

[fanatic26]

Having worked with all 3 of your listed options i would recommend ubuntu personally. EthOS is wonderful if all you want to do is mine ethereum. Of all the 3 it required the least maintenance by far. Windows was very unreliable for me as it just did not like running 6 cards on one board. I eventually got it working but it required a bunch of fiddling with each individual machine.

As far as the ubuntu setup time, it really isnt that bad. If you are running a farm you should be buying the same hardware for all machines. As long as you have done that just build one ubuntu machine to your liking and just clone the drive onto other machines, change the IP/worker name, and mine away.

[twofreckles]

For large scale farms i would go for ubuntu.I don't see really how it requires more time to set up (maybe if you are not used to linux or command line) since it's much faster to install and require less space. Downside of ubuntu is that there are not a lot of software for remote management

Have you experienced other drawback using Ubuntu? I have heard that the hashrate may be lower than Windows setup.

Depends on miner optimization. Usually not true. Ubuntu is not that great if you want to overclock though but for bios modding much more stable than windows (even preferred) so would be great if you are using RX cards

It is very true. Under ubuntu RX will give a bit lower hashrate due to drivers. For instance I get 27,5 Mhs on Windows and 26,5 in Ubuntu, however I still prefer linux because it is more stable. So despite it has a little lower hashrate I would probably loose much more on rigs with windows (if rig is down it doesn't work at all )

[Myffas]

I'm surprised, you guys are all favorable to Ubuntu compared to other options. I tough the community was more divided. Large farms represent many rigs and if they are mostly on Linux, then I don’t understand why Claymore is releasing his miners for Windows first and then much later for Linux. He would have more fees by doing the opposite.

Nobody have good things to say about windows?

[eckmar]

I'm surprised, you guys are all favorable to Ubuntu compared to other options. I tough the community was more divided. Large farms represent many rigs and if they are mostly on Linux, then I don’t understand why Claymore is releasing his miners for Windows first and then much later for Linux. He would have more fees by doing the opposite.

Nobody have good things to say about windows?

It's easier to overclock and manage your rig on windows (if you have a few rigs) and most small miners are on windows. Claymore is intentionally targeting small miners. No one that owns a big farm is going to experiment with whole farm. He will usually use a few rigs to test new miner from claymore for example and then switch the rest of rigs and small miners wont do that. New miner is up, hell yes lets download it straight away. By the time he develop miner for linux he will earn big miners trust and he is good to go

[Za1n]

There is now many option (OS and miners) to set up a new GPU farm. I think the following factors are the most important to think of when comparing options:

• Cost (initial and recurrent fees)
• Hashrate (also consider losses due to stability)
• Power consumption
• Ease of use & maintenance time

For quite a while I'm been using claymore's miners on windows 7. For my next expansion, I have 3 options in mind and I would like to know your thoughts. Legality is important for me so I consider all fees.

• Option1: Windows 10 (100$) + Claymore’s miners (1-2% fees): Hashrate seems better
• Option2: EthOS (39$ and include 16GB SSD): seems easier to manage farm
• Option3: Ubuntu: seems cheaper but requires more time to set up

Lets discuss about OS and miner selection. Your inputs are very welcome.

If you have your Windows 7 or 8.1 product key you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for no charge through Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade