Hi, I used to have this problem in max 9 with mental ray and specially in rendring high resolution. Maybe if you split the file to strips by the backburner this may help or use lower resolution...but I think it is a silly bug in the program and thats why I switched from max 8 to 2008 directly.
Studio/Institution: Render Design Genre: Residential Exterior Software: 3ds max v8, mental ray Description:
Azzurra hotel, Hurgada, Egypt. Night shot from pool side