I managed to find a Vega Frontier Edition brand new listed for $600, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. After doing some preliminary research into potential hashrates, I saw a wide range of opinions and hashrates depending on the person posting them.
When it comes in, what should I mine? What steps do I need to take to ensure I can get the best hashrate out of it? (BIOS mod, mining software versions?)
Your, as in any other case efficient mining ETH/Monero. Or their forks. You may want to get ZEC or forks.