Isn't PAL Japan AND European?
Question 1: Using the Triangle option will always be slower than the other options. Don't know if getting a new GPU will actually make it faster, but it will have more support for the graphics options, so it may work better.
Question 2: If you mean the sound is kinda clicky or it's cracking, that can be fixed by changing the buffer size, which is located in Options>Aica>Sound buffer (or something similar)
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