I realize that this probably can't be fixed, but I was wandering if anyone gets 60 fps consistently in battle or if it almost always will go between 45-60? Even running at Native res I always range between 45-60. I also get audio stuttering every so often when the screen transitions and eventually it "catches up" but its rather distracting.

I'm using 0.9.7 with recommended speed hacks, its even less tolerable when no speed hacks are on. I've tried switching the SPU plugin to default settings with no luck there either. I've also tried the mvu block hack and EE cycle stealing, both tend to make things worse rather than better.

When battle slows down usually EE is at 100% which is why I'm assuming my CPU is just bottle necking it and there is nothing I can do, but if anyone has a suggestion of other Revs I could use, other plugin's I could use that might make this work better it would be most appreciated.

My system specs are below and I don't OC due to my cooling not being sufficient for it at the moment and I really have no intention of upgrading anytime soon.

I'm using GSDX 0.1.16 for the record.

That's too bad you don't feel you can OC at all, because that's probably the one thing that'll make the difference.

For the record: I'd bet your i7 could handle some OCing on the stock cooler. The Core i processors have proven much more capable under standard circumstance than the processors we've known in years past. Also, disabling the completely unnecessary HyperThreading (for PCSX2) would quite possibly reduce your temps, and allow a little more head-room (or breathing room).

EDIT: Actually, there is a possibility that disabling HT would stabilize and/or improve your speed. No promises there, but it wouldn't be the first time it's happened.

That's weird. I play on a lower spec pc (i7 720QM, win7 x64, HD5730) but Star Ocean 3 battles play smoothly. There's lag pretty much everywhere else e.g. cutscenes, but battles are no problem.

Hey Wait Star Ocean 3 runs on i7 super-fast and HT is not that bad. Its good for many other games. And I7 overclocks automatically (TURBO BOOST)

I'm actually playing SO3 right now on my laptop and with EE cycle rate 2 and VU cycle stealing 2 it runs perfect.

My problem has more to do with the display settings. No matter what I do it is giving me eye strain.

Without interlacing the game bobs, and starting the game with X and triangle doesn't seem to do anything. I experiment with the various interlacing and I either get shearing or blurry text. After a bit of playing I end up with massive eye strain, like I have been trying to read a book in the dark. No other game has given me this problem :/

I actually pulled out my PS2 and played it on my TV and it seems to be fine, but that defeats the purpose since I normally only play video games while my daughter is watching her stupid tv shows lol.

You're not doing the x + triangle thing correctly then. If done correctly, you'll be presented with an option screen to verify your progressive scan choice.
Try doing a full boot and keep triangle and x held all the way into the game.

Oh.. wow. Hrm, Enable fast CDVD speedhack was preventing me from hitting that option screen. That works and is much better.

One more stupid question hehe. Yes I know patch files exist, but I typically don't bother and use cheat engine. This is the first and only game I have been unable to edit actual values directly. I mucked around and found that when the game wants to know how much fol you have, it loads a value into eax and then does

xor eax, 7ce3c7f7

Wtf? I was able to change my money by changing the instruction to mov eax, amount. It isn't a big deal, I was just curious what this was.

I used a memhack as well (ArtMoney), had no trouble increasing money by editing the value directly.