I am 99% certain you will not be able to flash a PCI GeForce 2 to work in your beige G3. AGP cards seemed to be no problem for most people. But I think only Endimion (or whatever his name is) on xlr8yourmac.com and applefritter was able to flash a PCI GeForce 2 card and even then it only worked in a B/W G3. I think the general concensus was that either the PCI spec or OpenFirmware of the Beige G3 was too old.I think you are going to find it quite hard to get a good deal on a PCI graphics card, unless you want a VooDoo card. 3DFX Voodoo cards are great but not so hot in OS X or any 3d Apps using openGL, Unreal based games play better on these cards than anything else out there though. Any PC Voodoo 2, 3 , 4 or 5 can be flashed to work on the Mac, prbly the voodoo 1 but I'm not sure about the Banshee cards.
If you want something that's less powerfull but more compatiblle you'll need and ATI card. The Radeon 7000 is easily available at around 110 USD and supports OS X and dual monitors, however it's less powerfull than the Original PCI Mac Radeon (7200) this card goes for quite a high price though despite it's age. If you find a sub 100 USD deal on it snap it up as it's probably the best card you can get. You'll probably be able to find reasonable deals on Rage Orions and the other 16 MB ATI cards though. The only ATI card that seems flashable is the 8500 but it's AGP.
Finally the xlr8yourmac forums have a lot of info on attempts to flash PCI GeForce cards and why they won't work.
EDIT - just found this in the mail box, you'll need to subscribe to the mailling list to get this price but it looks ok. I'd check out eBay for a quick price comparission though.
ATI Rage Pro Video 16MB Apple OEM PCI 2D/3D ***Only $59.99*** $9.98 OFF!
If you are looking for more performance and/or to add a 2nd monitor on a
budget, this card is your ticket for ANY Mac with a PCI Slot! Fully
compatible with OS 8.x-9.2.2 and all versions of OS X, the ATI Rage Pro is
faster than the built in Video of any Mac prior to the Blue & White G3 and
supports millions of colors at up to 1900x1200 resolution.
http://eshop.macsales.com/link.cfm?id=5996-6421
Edited by - gothikon on 21 Dec 2002 16:32:03
card flashing question
Posted - 21 Dec 2002 : 12:59:35
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.