FF7 thinks its a ninja

But it seems to have the speed of a narcoleptic fat man. Ok, bad lead ins aside, ive checked the faq, tried some fixes, and havent really been able to get it to work.
Well, let me specify: the game is "laggy". it jumps, stalls, and skips, like im playing on a bad disc. it's not the iso file, ive used a few diff ones. well, it COULD be but it's rather unlikely.
Im using the pete's video plugin, not version 2.
I also have no sound plugin.
And i don't use memory cards, no idea how, save states have worked so far.
The game itself IS playable, but the sound is buggy, as are the visuals, mostly
around map tranisitons and ESPECIALLY at battle transitions.

So, is it just my videocard? ( i'm not actually sure what card i have on this comp-recently got it as a gift ^_^)
Or is there a way to set it so that it runs smoother?
At any rate, im happier than a penguin in a fish factory that I'm playng ff7 again.

ps.- saw a cople diff copies of ff7 on ebay for 70-90 bucks. I used to own a copy, had bought it for $16. i was /boggled.