is there a benchmarked benefit to mine on this instead of win10?
Nothing Benchmarked.
I just recently posted a extensive reply showing where ZhashOS is more power efficient than the OP's setup by over 80 watts. Has a lot of pictures detailing the test and results.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.47505668 Which as a side note, I'm currently researching reducing power consumption even further.
In regards to Win10, AFAIK, Win10 requires a hard or SSD drive and virtual memory in order to run.
ZhashOS requires neither.A OS with a running hard/SSD drive with virtual memory on it being accessed
IS going to consume more power than a OS without one. It is as simple as that.
I also have several reports where new "first time" users have been able to get mining on ZhashOS within minutes of first boot.
So you have to ask yourself...what is your time worth to you?
For most people of mining caliber, it is pretty darn expensive.
I want my pc & rigs to be a appliance that just flat works.
I haven't had a OS update in years and I've NEVER had a virus.
I turn my appliance on and it JUST...FLAT...WORKS!
My time is to precious to me to allow it to do anything else....
According to wikipedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Public_servers_on_the_InternetThe 2015 W3COOK top 1 million Web Servers Survey, Shows Linux owns 96.6% of the market share.
There is a reason why Linux is the top choice of web server sysadmins....reliability!
And I view mining to be of a similar reliability need.
Exactly how much money are you making when the rig is down?
Not to say Linux is perfect, Nothing is perfect that is human made.
But having sysadmin'd both OS's, I have chosen Linux for it's reliability.
And I have enjoyed the extra time that choice has afforded me.