Hi i've the same problem, only from 1.7 release ... i work good, i do preview, i do fix and refix.. when i start final render, in stand-alone or distribuite mode, max crash ... in all scene, i think, easy or complex... i restart max, i restart render and all work fine... No upgrade o new software in my comp .... nothing is changed.
With Vray, or Fstorm i've no this problem.