Originally Posted by George Mills
I believe, the processing power of each is currently the same.

Think you're right, but I am not a computer expert, and know the G68 (which I owned) much better than the 861.

According to M lit., the G68 has 5x150 MIPS chips, so 750 total and this is presumably fixed.

Looks like the 861 is 750 too -- CD20 (300 MIPS) + EF20 (300) + IE42 (150)

Obviously though, the card cage architecture allows expansion; whether this will ever play is another story.

Trying to get a handle on the potential advantages of an 861 vs. the G in the medium (say 3-5 years) term as I plot my possible return to M. As I've never heard them side by side and they seem similar in terms of DACs and processing, the SQ differences are all anecdotal for me.