Endless crashes rendering with After Effects CC

Question

System:
Windows 7 Pro 64bit (all latest updates)
16gb RAM
i5-2200k processor
GTX780 video card
Latest version of After Effects CC
To preface this, I am a novice to After Effects but fairly experienced with other video editing software such as Sony Vegas.
I have been trying to render a simple downloaded audio visualizer/react template for the last 4 days and every time I get some kind of crash. The template has a few layers and particle effects which react to an audio layer.
First it was blue screens of death, usually with the "MEMORY MANAGEMENT" blue screen error about 10-20% into the render. Of course I ran a Windows memory diagnostic, which found no problems. I'm able to use + render from Vegas and Premiere no problem also, I might add, which would seem to indicate that it is not a hardware problem. The system is stable otherwise. I have AE set to use 12gb of RAM - multiprocessing I've tried both ways, on/off. Eventually I found a user suggestion to reduce voltage to my RAM via my BIOS, which I did, and that seemed to stop the blue screen problems.
Next, I would get errors such as "A crash occurred while invoking plugin..." anywhere from 50% to 80% through the render. The exact plugin varied. All are default AE plugins, no 3rd party stuff. For example, one crash occurred with the basic hue/saturation plugin, another with glow. These do not occur ion load or on normal playback. I have tried using the secret preferences to purge every 30 frames, turned off RAM preview, etc.
It's just insane how finicky and unstable this software is. The machine is practically brand new. Very clean installation, latest graphics card drivers, etc. NO problems with any other software including video software so again I find it unlikely to be a general hardware issue. Currently I am working on reinstalling EVERYTHING on the machine with a clean W7 pro install - nothing but W7, CC, and the graphics drivers.

Answer 1

OK, I've totally wiped my system and reinstalled with very little luck. Here is the full list of specs/info as per the FAQ.
After Effects version: 13.0.2.3, 2014.0.2 release (After Effects CC)
Have I installed recent updates: Yes
What OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. Version 6.1 (Build 7601: SP 1)
Error messages: Currently my system alternates between "MEMORY MANAGEMENT" BSODs, and a series of errors to the effect of "Crash occurred while invoking effect plugin" followed by a series of native AE plugins in my project, such as radial wipe, glow, hue/saturation, etc
What was I doing when problem occurred: In all cases, simply leaving a freshly-rebooted system to render in peace with no other applications open and caps lock ON
Has this ever worked before: I managed to render the project once, somehow, with no errors. I have not changed any settings, hardware, or software since then.
Computer hardware: CPU is i5-2500k @ 3.3ghz 4 cores, 16gb Corsair XMS2 RAM, GTX780 graphics card with LATEST DRIVERS, 20" LED monitor connected via HDMI, USB wireless LAN adapter, USB mouse, PS/2 keyboard, no other peripherals or hardware. OS + AE installed on a FRESH 250gb Samsung SSD. One other HD in the system (500gb normal HD)
Graphics driver version: GeForce 344.11 release date 9/8/2014, version 344.11
Third party i/o hardware: No
Source footage: You can download the exact template I'm using here. http://impactsoundworks.com/work/AudReactV2.rar
QuickTime installed: Yes version 7.7.5 (1680.95.13)
What other software am I running: While using After Effects, nothing except the Adobe CC application, Geforce control panel, and Samsung Magician for my SSD. No firewall no antivirus.
Third-party effects / codecs: None. This occurs with a 100% completely fresh installation of Windows 7 (with all windows updates) and AE CC, with no additions
OpenGL Features in AE:  Not sure how to check.
RAM preview, final output?: The problem happens when rendering. Though if I try to play back the projects in real time, after about 5 seconds it says my RAM is maxed out @ 16gb
Using render multiple frames simultaneously? Happens with this feature on AND off, makes no difference.
Ray-traced 3D render: Not sure
Render settings: Occurs with H.264 AND uncompressed AVI, both set to 1920x1080 resolution, 8bit depth, 48khz audio, 24 fps
Please note for clarity, these problems were occurring on my previous installation of Windows with the same machine. So, I put in a 100% new hard drive, installed Windows 100% fresh, with nothing but Adobe CC and the same problems still happened. I then installed Premiere and Sony Vegas. I have been able to use and render from these with NO PROBLEMS at all.
I'm at my wit's end here...