Upgrade suggestions - FF12

[Lyvan]

Recently, i decided to pick up this PS2 emulator again in order to play FF12 (kinda the only game i play on PS2, i've also played FF10, but it drove me mad since you can't skip the FMV's..)

Anyway, the game runs "smooth" (55 - 60 fps) on my poor old rig, and i'm looking for suggestions both to my config but also to my hardware in order to "speed" my game up, and make it look/sound nicer. I have a "slowdown" problem in big areas where the whole game "slows" down, but the fps stays the same. The sound also "stutters" and "cracks" sometimes, i also have a rather huge fps-drop in the cutscenes (down to 30 - 40, depending on how big the scene is)

Any suggestions, both config/plugin ones, but also hardware (ie, what should i upgrade?)

I'm using PCSX2 0.9.6 and the beta-plugins.

Hardware:

Intel Pentium Dualcore E6300 @ 2.80 ghz
4gb Ram
NVidia Geforce 8400 GS 256 MB
Windows XP 32 bits using latest directx


Config/plugins

   

   

   

   

   

   

[ikazu]

Use the very latest beta and plugins (official) :
http://pcsx2.net/files/21514
http://pcsx2.net/files/22789

Use GSDx SSSE3 since your CPU supports, disable all other options, just enable native.
for SPU:
Enable Time Processing, set the interpolation to no interpolation
CPU config is good
your Speedhacks are causing the bad sound and bad FMV, as u can see at the description, X2 and X3 can cause stuttering sounds and bla2..
Leave the advanced options to "default" state

I think u just need to OC your CPU to 3.2GHz + if u can, get a good coolant for that.

[Lyvan]

Use the very latest beta and plugins (official) :
http://pcsx2.net/files/21514
http://pcsx2.net/files/22789

Use GSDx SSSE3 since your CPU supports, disable all other options, just enable native.
for SPU:
Enable Time Processing, set the interpolation to no interpolation
CPU config is good
your Speedhacks are causing the bad sound and bad FMV, as u can see at the description, X2 and X3 can cause stuttering sounds and bla2..
Leave the advanced options to "default" state

I think u just need to OC your CPU to 3.2GHz + if u can, get a good coolant for that.

Using latest beta and your suggestions, when i enabled time processing for SPU, i got stutter/cracking sound, so i disabled it again.

My FMV's are showing a bit faster, but still a bit laggy. Using 2x speedhack now, but should i enable any VU hacks? I'm using all EE hacks, but i'm not sure about the VU ones, or the VU Cycle Stealing-slider, should i just enable them all, or just leave em?

I'll try overclocking my processor towards 3.2GHz, i've got a decent cooler so i should make it, i've been up to 3GHz on the stock one, and i recently upgraded to a bigger heatsink, so i'll try =)

[ikazu]

Yeah, after u overclock your CPU to at least 3.2GHz or more, u could maximize your gaming experience. I won't say maximize. I'll say increase (sound,graphics,FMVs)