About your ATI trouble,
I had a buddy with the same card and troubles.
I know its a little simple/odd but after about a week of doing stuff we updated his via 4in1 drivers and the problem never resurfaced. Weird but it worked for him. Know/read what your doing before trying it.
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=300
and, yes, ATI will not solve your problem.
