Vaio F11Z1E Upgrade

This is my first time here, so first of all, Greetings to everyone

I have a Vaio F11Z1E which cost me quite a lot of money when i bought it 3 years ago. (1400euros)
Specs are as follows:

Core i7 720QM 1.6 - 2.8GHz
8GB RAM
500GB Hard drive
GeForce GT 330M
16 inch 1920x1080 screen
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Blu-ray BD-RE

Instead of buying a new laptop, I would like to know what kind of affordable upgrades are possible to do. I know the maximum RAM is 8gb, but is it possible to change for a faster solution? I wonder if it is possible to change the hard drive for a SSD? And would installing windows 8 help me get a better overall performance? Any other suggestions?

I use it mostly to work with CAD software and 3d rendering.


Thanks a lot,
Greets!

 

CAD/3D Rendering?

Even with Win8x64 PRO, 16GB RAM (which I don't think your system supports...) and a state of the art SSD, I don't think you'll appreciably increase it's 'performance' in your workflow.

Yes: it will be snappier. But for the ~$500 needed to do these simple/straightforward upgrades properly, it will be money down the drain. Even upgrading the cpu is not worth it in my opinion - the other upgrades are still 'necessary' for a modern system (especially for the intended workflow).

Sell the system and buy as current a platform as you can - you will be much happier than spending 40-60% of the money and getting less than 2-3x the performance.


Keep in mind that money you have already spent is not a reason to waste money you can use wisely now.

Good luck.

 

Not only in terms of performance, but also longevity. I agree with tiller here. Besides, you're still limited to your system board and BIOS as to what you can upgrade, so even if you were to find fair deals on components, the nominal amount of gain would still probably not be worth the investment.