In my experience, the "mini-bevels" (millions of small triangles) seem to show up when different textures are overlapping.
As for the incessant crashing, it seems to happen whenever I edit a "Texturize" effect. I can delete the effect and set a new one, but if I simply hit "Edit" and then either edit it or cancel, instant crash.
Very maddening, but at least I have a workaround.