Checked the refresh rate, and it was at 85 mhz, so I lowered it to 75 mhz. So maybe that'll help with the lockups. My flight sims seem to like the higher refresh, but that could be it.
As far as the ability to have a little more individual control over vid and audio settings, is just a personal preference. I just like being able to set stereo, or surround sound levels myself. Likewise for AA, filtering, mipmaps, and what-not.
Thanks again mates!