Migrated to Linux (Ubuntu).. Need help

[Hoffadder]

Hi there,

I have recently left Microsoft behind after the umpteenth system failure, and am committed to making a full transition to Linux.
I chose Ubuntu 12.04.01 64 bit, as my assumption was that Ubuntu would have the best support for hardware, and I also was impressed by its ease of use compared to other distro's software managers.

Everything installed fine, and I thought all was well.

But:
1. When surfing on Chrome, there are several webpages that do not function properly and seem broken (scroll bars do not work, cannot fill in forms etc.) and there are glitches while watching Youtube.

2. At the same time when watching a high-def movie with VLC, after 30 minutes (aprox) the sync goes to hell.

3. I have at the same tame noticed that the CPU load is very erratic never falling bellow 14% and spiking intermittently at 76-100%.

I have installed restricted drivers, and tried both installing catalyst from AMD's webpage and tried the propitiatory drivers in Ubuntu's "additional drivers" menu, but alas nothing is helping.

Can anyone guide me in the right direction?
I consider myself semi-computer literate, and can usually find sollutions online my self, but not this time.
Is this a Kernel issue?
Would I have better luck waiting for 12.10 (newer kernel)
Should I consider a different distro?

My specs are:
Intel I5 275 on MSI P55-CD53 motherboard
ATI HD 4890 1GB
60 GB SSD, 1TB WD caviar for /home folder
16 GB Corsair Vengeance (because I could )

Thanks in advance

P.s.

If this is a GPU issue, what are my options? As far as I can make out there might be support problems for the HD 4xxx series in linux. Does this mean I have to buy a new GPU

[Ace.....]

The likely fix for your issues with chrome can be found here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2065621

[Hoffadder]

Thx for the heads up Ace.

I will give it a try.

In the mean time I have read that flash hasn't been very well supported on 64 bit. I never had problems using FF or Chrome in Windows, so I assume this as well is a Linux issue.

I chose Chrome over Firefox due to Adobe not supporting Linux any longer. But is this still the case?

[Ace.....]

Thx for the heads up Ace.

I will give it a try.

In the mean time I have read that flash hasn't been very well supported on 64 bit. I never had problems using FF or Chrome in Windows, so I assume this as well is a Linux issue.

I chose Chrome over Firefox due to Adobe not supporting Linux any longer. But is this still the case?

Not sure of the politics, but I run chrome and firefox as my normal setup.

For firefox, I installed flash-aid - its a an icon that will live top-right of firefox.
It will load the correct code for your sys.

It works a treat.

By using both these fixes, both my browsers are flying along.
Chrome flies just that little bit faster (as it happens).

[Pilot6]

Regarding browsing in Chrome.
Install flashplugin-installer package.
Then in Chrome goto chrome://plugins, click details in the right corner and disable pepperflash.
Pepperflash which is built in Chrome does not work well with AMD graghics.

Adobe does not make new versions of flash for linux, but they issue security updates for 11.2. It works quite well.

[Pilot6]

Regarding high cpu loads when playing video install xvba-va-driver.