The 3.6, a 3.1 with a clip, has much fewer wires to solder than the Messiah 2 due to the 3.6 having a clip. As far as it going up against a Messiah 2 performance wise there is no contest. Messiah 2 is much more stable booting every game every time. No questions asked. Magic chips can require multiple resets to get a game to boot. Even then some games just won't work at all. A Messiah 2 will run ya a little more, but it will save you from having to buy asprin to rid the headaches a Magic 3.6 will give you.
