In my first 80 hours of playing this game I maybe had three or four CTDs, usually at the end of a 8-12 hour day of playing on the weekend (where frankly I needed it so that I could sleep). Since the latest patch I've barely been able to play for an hour without it CTD at completely random points.
So, will try this 4gb launcher.
Like yourself, the crash to desktop with no warning was very infrequent. I could play many hours and may or may not have a single issue. I was actually relieved like you mentioned, when it crashed, as a reminder to go to bed!
Post - patch 1.2, I switched from using CCC 11.9 to CCC 11.11c and run the Skyrim 4GB launcher. Not one single crash since. This is on Win.7/64-bit, i7-860, 4GB ram, ATI 5770 [crossfired]. Granted, the crossfire still needs better optimization [read: usage], but practically speaking, the game runs smooth as butter with pleasing frame rates and visual goodness.