I suspect this debate has some way to run. If for no other reason because the S7 is still evolving
and the Avalon6 is still very new. We do not yet know the detail of the 135 Chip S7 changes or a later release of A6 firmware. Both have yet to show their true colours in the Undervolt Underclock stakes, which for me will be very important.
A few thoughts, questions & comments from someone who has neither at the moment.
I like the simplicity of the S7 built in controller, but did load the Avalon Code into an RPi this Morning and it looked very similar. I see the argument about the S7 controller going down but surely there must be an interface board of some Sort in the A6 to go wrong?
Have seen the comments on the A6 temperature and agree that being in the 70's does seem very hot / hotter than I have chosen to run a miner. Is this the set / design temperature or is it a consequence of people turning the fan down?
I much prefer the rear connections & 4PCI-e of the A6, makes the S7 look a mess. I also prefer the "conventional" single plate heatsink over the sometimes poorly stuck mini heatsinks in the S7.
So for me at the moment too close to call
Rich
I agree it's early that is part of why I mention I'm still testing in my review thread. There are still a lot of possibilities. And a lot of people do have a favorite mining company and get use to it's software, I can understand this. I just personally enjoy trying multiple companies it's part of the fun for me.
As far as controller Avalon 6 will win with RPI. I truly wish bitmain would use RPI instead of custom controller. If you get a bad flash or electricity outage, internet outage, etc. The S7 might be a brick till replacement. As with the Avalon 6 I have RPI's in my project area I can go grab one. So it hands down will win on controller. I will be honest I hope one day bitmain uses RPI instead of custom and this becomes a moot point.
As far as you mentioning a boards within the miner I'm sure there are some custom boards that could bring it down and need a new part. No miner is 100 percent unstoppable that is part of reason of warranty is to test out miner and make sure it's not a dud. But a board within it I see as different part then controller.
I have only bricked one bitmain controller but it was not fun and enough to make me like RPI option. So I could be jaded from my experience of bricking a S3.