I had some internal errors and a rather severe VPU recovery that kicked in (thank god) when I collapsed dynamic geometry after texturing and displacement, then tried to do an AO render. I updated my drivers...they had just come out w/ a new one, but I would just stay away from AO. I can use it fine, but I think that's a  buggier area. Not critical to me since I will render in Carrara. I am sure bug patches are coming. I have an 9600xt 128MB and other than that I have been working in several areas and no crashes. People should do all geometry first, then the texturing and use AO lightly if at all. I have stuck to that and no crashes so far. It is a cool program. The video driver thing is just a rough road anyway. For years video drivers have been an annoying issue for everyone. It just comes w/ the territory. I am glad ATI implemented the VPU recovery because it helps alot in most situations. Oh, and I haven't crippled my OGL at all.(this is OGL 2.0)

No need to think outside the box....
    Just make it invisible.