one 'crash evader' trick I've used alot is to not use the 'render to screen', but to use the 'render to main window'  and the 'render to area' option...first save your scene, then turn all of your viewports to wireframe, except for the main window viewport......then open the render options (using the 'render' options from the top menu,,not the timeline 'render' icon) n select the 'render to main window' option, then be sure to click ' save render to disk', and save it as a .gif ...then go to 'render area' and click the box..then click 'ok'....

directly beside the regular 'render' icon in the top menu bar, u'll see another icon on the left..the 'render to area' icon..click it..your curser will turn into a circle but will turn to crosshair when you get to the main window viewport... ..put your curser on the right top corner of the viewport and drag it to the bottom left corner n then let go..then open the timeline render options (just click once) n select the 'render entire animation' option, then in 'channel files', click 'browse ' and save it as .gif(but while saving, I would suggest creating a folder for it).....set the frame rate size prefs...click 'ok'...now go click on the timeline 'preview' icon...even if it crashes or freezes right after rendering, it won't matter alot cause you will have already saved it to disk

hope this helps, but if not, you can try using open gl fixed or software compatibility mode.