Company of Heroes 1 running issues - RX 460

[Mataroa]

Right, so... I just rebought this game after a few years. I tried playing on my poor man's refurbished PC integrated graphics, and the game surprisingly did play (albeit with severe FPS issues). I was even able to complete the Skirmish match. However, after that game I decided to chip out for a brand new RX 460 to improve FPS, and from there the game isn't playing.

Every time I start up another Skirmish match, the game will load in normally. I click Start, the lights go up, and I go to select my build squad. Then, the game decides to blackscreen before my first building is even constructed, returning a few moments later with the last available ingame cursor and music only. No models. No map. No voices, engines or environment noises. Just the cursor moving around the screen as I shake my mouse angrily. I am forced to start Task Manager, end the process, rinse and repeat.

Sometimes, the game will run great before quitting. Smooth FPS, smooth camera panning, smooth animations... Then the black screen hits, and everything grinds to a halt. I have hope that there is a solution somewhere because the game does run smoothly, if only for a few precious moments. After something like 1-2 minutes something acts up, and the game can no longer run because of it. It has to be something after the Skirmish battle is loaded and running.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm not too computer savvy, so if you could offer a solution in simple terms that'd be great.

OS: Windows 7 x64 SP1
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3GHz each
RAM: 4GB
Basic stuff so far, and I'll try to give you any other system specs you ask for.

Also, here are two pastebins that may help: a dxdiag.txt file of my computer and a warnings.txt file that CoH generated in the game file.

(http://pastebin.ca/3708274) - This is the dxdiag of my computer.

(http://pastebin.ca/3708275) - This is the warnings.txt file that CoH gave me. It's worth pointing out that all of the main menu screens work marvelously. The game starts to act up once I begin a battle. So, the issue probably arises after the game launches into a battle. Once on the pastebin page, use Ctrl+F and search GAME -- *** Beginning mission 6p_refinery (1 Humans, 1 Computers) *** for quick results. I could copy-paste it here for helpers to read, but I don't want to create a larger wall of text than I have already made.

Thank you all for looking, and thank you even more if you can help me solve this issue. I'll attempt anything and everything you lot can pitch to me. If you need any other system info, I'll try to scrounge it up.

(Oh, and bonus points for a step-by-step solution.)

 

[EndlessWaves]

Try running the game in Windowed mode and see what it does (-window argument apparently).

 

[Mataroa]

Try running the game in Windowed mode and see what it does (-window argument apparently).

Well... I got the game to play in window mode. I wish I could say it was smooth sailing, but afraid not. Rather, it made my computer bluescreen. The screen alternated between a black screen and the game a few times before my computer called it quits. I'm currently trying to find the bluescreen report (the error message on the bluescreen disappears before I can read it). Perhaps I can glean something important from it.

 

[Mataroa]

Downloaded BlueScreenView and it came back with this.

Those four files in the red highlight are clearly the problem children. Now the question is, how do I rectify this?

 

[EndlessWaves]

It's unlikely to be a game issue then. Bluescreens are usually something more fundamental like drivers or even hardware.

How many other games have you run and have you encountered problems (of any sort) in those?

It might be worth reinstalling the drivers using something like Display Driver Uninstaller.

It's probably not a power supply issue as the RX 460 uses a 6-pin connector but doesn't draw much from it so if your PSU has it then it should be sufficient capacity. It's unlikely to be overheating if it fails that fast at a particular point but you could grab something like MSI Afterburner to make sure.

As you've just bought an eight year old computer I'm guessing your previous system was even older and wouldn't have a PCI-Express slot you could test the RX 460 in? Any friends or family members with desktops?

 

[Mataroa]

CoH is actually the first Steam game I've bought. I have few other non-Steam games on the computer that run okay, but definitely weren't optimal with the stock PC.

I'll try your solutions. Will get back to you soon.

 

[Mataroa]

I used DDU to uninstall both Intel and AMD drivers. Reinstalled AMD driver's most recent version for 460 (Crimson 16.9.1), and now my game simply crashes to desktop every other time I start the game. When the game does go through to the match, the previous issue persists.

There is a relatively new desktop in our house that we bought new... I'll try the card in there. If the problem keeps it up, should I simply try a slightly older graphics card?

 

[Mataroa]

Right. Well.

Turns out the home PC doesn't even have a PCI-e slot on the mobo. I downloaded CoH and played a round anyway to see how it ran, and it wasn't bad. Not good, but not bad. The game's playable, and that's sure as hell better than it was before.

Sucks that I'm out $100 for the stupid 460, but eh.