Anyhow, what I'm looking for is opinions on graphics cards besides the PIV. What they can and can't do compared to the PIV. I want to get something for my A3K but am not sure I want to fork over 400+ on a PIV.
I know a mediator exists for the A3K but by the time I spent the money on that, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get a PIV. 
The best value gfx board for a 3000 is the original CV64. They usually go for about half the price of a PIV and they have passthrough for displaying Amiga and RTG modes from one output. The CV64 is a little faster than the PIV in 256 colors due to a faster gfx bus but slower at higher depths.
The fastest and most versatile gfx board for a 3000 is the Mediator with a Voodoo 3/4 card. You pay up front but then you get cheap ethernet. You also gain faster 2D, fast 3D and more memory. You lose the passthrough though. There are separate outputs for ECS and RTG so some solution to deal with it is needed. My monitor has 2 inputs and a button on the front to switch.
The CV64/3D gets honorable mention. It's faster than most Amiga gfx boards and supports slow low resolution 3D. There is no passthrough but there is an optional board that provides passthrough.
The GVP Spectrum and Picasso II are very slow and undesirable. The Spectrum (and maybe the PII too) has passthrough if you can get it for cheap enough. Some of the early boards had reliability problems but the last batches seem to be better. The Picasso II has hardware design issues which make it difficult and slow to support P96 or CGFX RTG.
There is also the Indivision ECS which allows some enhancements in color and resolution and is a one monitor solution. The 3000 doesn't need the flicker fixer it provides and it won't give as much of a speedup as a fast gfx board though.
