I'm pretty new to mining. I picked up 6 Asus ROG Strix 1070s (8G, not O8G) for my first rig because they're supposed to run quiet and perform well - I'm happy with them, but my experience is limited. Anyhow, I ordered another 2 of them to max out the rig at 8 GPUs. I run Ubuntu 16.04 headless - ssh all the way.
As many of you know, getting your hands on 1070 GPUs these days as a small time operator is hard - particularly if you're focusing on a particular brand and model! I originally spent quite a bit of time researching hardware & understanding the power requirements, but I'm wondering -
does it really matter that much? Are 1070 variants that different from one another in heat distribution, overclocking, etc?
Can I order another 8 1070s of any brand/model that is more available and I'll generally be happy, mining-wise? (I'm not a gamer, so I don't care for the hardware in any other way other than perhaps potential resale value)
However, as many of you know, getting your hands on 1070 GPUs these days as a small time operator is hard - particularly if you're focusing on a particular brand and model!
Random notes:
- I like the idea of having each rig be uniform (ie. same cards).
- I like the idea of multiple fans - seems better that the founder's edition design.
- I'm aware of Samsung vs Micron memory.
- Quiet is good, but not the most important thing.
Bonus, random questions:
- Is there any way to determine if I have Micron memory in Linux? Yes, I know about GPU-Z on Windows.
- Is there any way to upgrade the 1070 bios in Linux?
I don't have anything particularly against Windows, it would just be handier to be able to accomplish this without. I've read I can run a (slow) never-ending trial install of Windows from a USB stick to handle these operations, so that's an option too.