I've had the same issue in the past on an i975x and my current X38 board. Personally, all I use is ATI hardware, and I've never had any issues with the drivers or any of ATI's software . . .
IMHO, the refresh issue lies within the OS . . .
Vista seems to have a mind of it's own with montior refresh rates, it's a little annoying. As well, refresh "banding" could be a sign of a failing LCD, too.
My trick - make sure you have the correct drivers for your LCD installed, if they're available. Also, find out the exact or maxmium refresh rate of your LCD (usually listed in the owner's manual, typically 60Hz to 75Hz).
Make sure in the WIN advanced display properties that it's set properly.
If you have CCC installed and using DVI, make sure "reduce frequency on high resolution displays" is unchecked, and "use alternate DVI mode" is selected.
Then, grab Ati Tray Tools. Go into the 'refresh lock' setting, enable it, then go into customize . . . set up your screen resolution, and the correct refresh rate for your monitor and lock it in.
If certain games reduce the overall screen resolution, it'll usually force a lower refresh rate as well . . . and sometimes Vista just does it's own thing . . . I've found that simply locking the refresh rate in completely alleviates the issue. But, this also comes with a bit of a warning . . . although I've never had any issues with this tactic, it could potentially damage your monitor.
Also, make sure to disable any "vsynch" or "60Hz frequency lock" options in your games.