If you choose to go down the GPU pathway rather than ASICs I would go with AMD cards. 570/580(etash) or vega 54 (monero). The 570/580 needs to be bios modded to function optimally for mining. Go to google or youtube for a guide.

I started out using Windows since I'm used to that and quite comfortable with it. However, there is a lot of issues with using windows for mining and after i switched to SMOS everything got A LOT easier. It is very easy to use and costs only 2$ a month per rig. Currently there is no support for Vega cards on it though.

For ASIC mining check out https://www.asicminervalue.com for profitability. You can put in your powercost at the very bottom.