Have you tried running a trial on Linux to see if you still have the problem?

I've actually had this problem with Maya 7, through 2009; so I don't think it's a QT problem, but they've sure caused a bunch of problems in the transition, so I wouldn't be too surprised.

You could try a refresh-rate forcer. That might help, but I have no idea; just guessing here.

Another silly question, but here goes... If most of the stuff that you do is modeling, and the modeling toolset hasn't changed very much in the past few releases, why not move back to a previous version? I still have Maya 7 and 2009 installed on my machine, as well as 2011. Maya 7 is still my favorite by far.