I think the latest drivers are ok.
If you can't find decent drivers, simply as soon as you start GPL, go into
the options and choose the software renderer. Then quit (so it can change
renderer).
Restart GPL in software, change your options to how you want them, then
switch back to hardware and quit and restart again.
I think this gets around the lock-ups as they tend only to appear in the
options screen.
Mike West