Hello EVGA friends!
I do my best to keep mileage & wear on my backup card at a minimum so that I have a reliable card in the case my primary isn't working, or available, in this case during a step-up.  The card I use, and can confirm this fix for, is the EVGA GTX 285 SSC. Not sure if the monitor matters, it's using a generic PnP driver, but its an Asus VW266H Monitor.  
 
While doing a medium amount of gaming (avoiding fancy titles with high GPU demand), I ran in to a familiar scenario that I had to seek a fix for at an earlier time.... 
I began to hear sounds emanating from the card that sounded like it was either being strained, or under a constant high work load.  I always use V-Sync, so right away I knew where to look.  From within the game I was playing at the time, I checked the advanced video options and sure enough, the game was set to a 59Hz refresh rate and could not be changed.  I then check my NVidia control panel to ensure the refresh rate is @60Hz, and it was.  Finally I checked my actual display adapter's settings, and sure enough, it was at 59Hz.  (Yes, I realize Windows rounds up or down and it was in actuality something like 59.97Hz)
Now, I already had set a NVidia custom display configuration @60Hz to fix the problem previously but it was not working for this occurance.  After a little bit of research, I found a new solution. (And I really wish I still had the link regarding refresh rates).
It's essentially the same sort of fix, except when making a custom config in Nvidia control panel, you set the refresh rate to 60.001, test and confirm, and you may or may not have to restart the computer for your display adapter to update to 60Hz.  If you're computer savvy, then that's all the information you needed.  For those that need a little extra help in the configuration for this, I will paste in the steps to do it from the thread I left in the Asus forums for my monitor...
 
1. Open your NVidia Control Panel (Right-Click Desktop --> NVidia Control Panel
2. Under Display, click "Change Resolution"
3. On the Change Resolution screen, look for a 'Customize..." button under the listed resolutions.
4. On the Customize Tab, click "Create Custom Resolution..."
5. Ensure that your information is correct in the "Display Mode (as reported by Windows)" section and then proceed to click the down button next to the word "Timing".
6. Click the drop-down box that by default says "Automatic", scroll down as needed, and click "Manual".
7. Once it allows you to enter manual settings, you should see an area towards the bottom that says "Refresh Rate". There will be a box to enter the "Hz" manually, or up and down arrows to use. Whichever method you choose to change the number, make sure that it reads "60.001". <--this is the fix b/c Windows rounds it down to 60 rather than displaying something like 59.97Hz @59Hz
8. Click the "Test" button, and if everything is as it should be, hit "Yes" to accept the changes.
9. You may now close out of the Nvidia Control Panel.
10.*Note, you MAY have to restart your computer before the changes update to Window's config based on your system's configuration. 
11.To verify that Windows has accepted this change, right-click the desktop, click screen resolution, click advanced settings, click the monitor tab, and you should now be displaying 60Hz for your refresh rate. (Remember that you may have to restart for it to reflect there)
 
If this has helped at least 1 person, then it has served its purpose.  When I get my 580 back, I'll make sure it doesn't revert back to 59Hz.  If it does, then I'll post a shortened version, or a link to this post in the 500's thread in case anyone there has the problem.  Please don't reply with things such as "Oh, don't cry about 59Hz, etc etc" .  If people are having issues such as the one I described while stuck running @59Hz, and switching to 60Hz will help them, then let it be.  
 
Cheers,
Dutch
 
 
 
 

Should have :(. I'm running Win7Pro x64 SP1 w/ all updates current and I still ran in to the problem.  It's no biggie though, this method at least gets it running proper until Windows finally fixes it for good ;D.  
 
And sure enough tonight when I installed my 580 and latest drivers I encountered the same problem and had to perform the fix again. Because of this I will leave a link to this post under the 500's thread. (If that's considered a double-post or something I'm not supposed to do please delete it or let me know)  I don't see a thread that encompasses all EVGA cards or I'd have just posted there. 

SP1 did fix the problem for me, i when into advanced display properties and click the monitor tab, and in the drop down box i have two choices, 59hz or 60 hz.