Using Debian, not Ubuntu, but while using the NVidia repository package, I perennially had issues where some got updated and some not. Eventually, things would break until I got all packages back on the latest version.
I have stopped using the repository packages for that reason. I prefer the pain of recompiling the driver every once in a while over chasing down a load of packages where you never even know if you got them all.
Depending on the age of your card, you could also try the open source "nouveau" driver. It is part of Xorg so would be expected to "just work".3D acceleration is not available for the newer cards but it worked very well on my previous GeForce 7600GT.