ATI Graphical Cards like the Radeon HD-5770 is difficult working with.
When I worked with Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) it was easy installed and all programs in-which I worked (music: concert videos - Youtube films, all with 1920x1080) and with VGA (2D).
In Precice 12.04 (with Gnome) the CCC-Suite (Catalyst Controle Center of the AMD-website) was installed this time during the installation of Precise (in 10.04 I made it myself).
This time I had a lot of difficulties watching a normal a DVD; watching a Blu-ray-disk on my PC or on an external bluray-player wasn't possible. The difficulty was that the CCC-driver Suite choose two screens itself (left a LG projector& to the right my Syncmaster 23").
Every ATI Graphical Card user which would not use a TV-out card should with a double screen be very happy, but I wasn't happy at that time. After around 30-years working with Windows and now with Ubuntu again, was this also not so easy to understand.
Today (a half year later in time) I understand a little more about the working of the different 'open source' software. I read of text the past period and there is a lot written about Ubuntu in all his types. In my Windows-period it was easy to use a GUI but you don't learn something about how it's made and how it shall work.
As newbie I'm a starter with CLI but with all steps I learn a lot and ask in a forum only a question how is this working or that is of course the easiest way. Now I can understand (before not) why in some Linux or Ubuntu-fora is no adequate reaction on a question. Most of the time everyone is in a hurry.... want a solution and never come back again.
Back to the Graphic card. One time I had a crash (not so strange with a Intel Quad Core i7-920/ASUS P6T base) and when I came back up, I had no problems again..... but the Gnome Fallback was also away. I happy working under Gnome with the extra layer, but now I was back again in Unity (I can't working with it, in bed).
I installed the last day of December 'Caïro Duck' this is something like working with a Mac :-). And most graphic card users have problems because there isn't the OpenGL v2.1, but the AMD/ATI-website said that the 12.11beta has all drivers in it..... but the release give information about Windows and not about Linux.
But if every Ubuntu user have Graphic problems, give this website a visit maybe your problems are away, CLI and no GUI:
http://ubuntusolved.blogspot.nl/2012/04/solved-ubuntu-1204-blinking-screen-on.html
http://www.linuxine.com/story/how-install-amd-catalyst-legacy-drivers-ubuntu-1210
~I'm open, honest and sincere to myself and to others...! ~