Upgrading an old Sony Vaio CW

EDIT: This laptop apparently runs a PM45 chipset, so can take C2D's with 1066 FSB.

My mom has a Vaio CW that is 4 years old and has become unbearably slow. I'm trying to see what I can upgrade in order to make the laptop snappier, and wanted to check with you guys before procuring any parts.

The Vaio CW is a 14.1" laptop, model # VPCCW13FD. It's a Canadian model if that matters. Currently it has a Core2Duo T6600, 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3, and a 320GB WD Blue HDD (model WD3200BEVS).

What is the strongest C2D processor that I can install in her laptop? I'm guessing it's the T9500, but would the BIOS be able to support this particular chip? If not, is there an updated/modded/hacked BIOS I could obtain anywhere that would allow the T9500 to run in her system? <del>And to make things more confusing, there are 2 sSpec numbers for the T9500 that takes Socket P: SLAQH and SLAYX. What's the difference, will either work?</del> OK so it seems that the SLAYX has a lower VID than the QH, so should run slightly cooler. Question is since the max VID of the T9500 is a good 0.11V lower than T6600, any chance of the chip frying due to mobo supplying excess voltage?

Also, it seems that her HDD is only running SATA 2. I'm curious as to if that's because the mobo had a SATA 2 connector, or Sony simply cheaped out on the low-end models. Either way I'll be upgrading her HDD to a 7200rpm HDD (likely the Travelstar 7K1000) since that should bring the most improvement.

Finally, would anyone happen to know what's the maximum frequency and amount of ram her Vaio would support?

Oh and is a disassembly guide/service manual available anywhere for the CW laptops?

 

I tried looking up the chipset and socket to see what the highest cpu you could put in it, but I couldn't really make a determination. I'm not sure how much more performance you'll get by upgrading 300mhz faster, but if its only $40, go for it.
The larger L2 cache on the 9300 might help too. I don't know about max ram, maybe check the CW owners thread. I doubt the bios allows any overclocking so changing ram frequency is not going to do anything (imo).

Your biggest bang for your buck is going to be a SSD. Prices are really coming down lately - no way I would buy a HDD unless you need tons of space. Tiger has this 240Gb SSD on sale for $89 ($20 rebate)
PNY Optima Series 240GB Solid State Drive - 2.5 Form Factor SSD, SATA III, 60,000 iOPS Read - SSD7SC240GOPT-RB at TigerDirect.com
and newegg has a 240Gb Kingston on sale for $99 shipped.

As far as SATA speeds, that's determined by the SATA controller on the motherboard and there is no way to upgrade it.

If it were my laptop, I would go with the SSD upgrade and a fresh OS install and see how that works out before spending any more money.

 

What Prime said is true. Even sata2 on a SSD will give so much difference over 5400 or 7200rpm. On the CPU side, T9500 should work as the FSB is the same at 800 MHz. Again Prime is right on the money side, spend on SSD first. You may feel you dont even need a cpu upgrade after SSD and fresh OS is installed. 4GB of RAM is sufficient for many average users though max I believe is 8 but 64bit OS is needed.

 

I just taught my mom how to use HWInfo and got some really useful information.

Turns out her laptop runs a PM45 chipset so it can use C2D's that run 1066 FSB. Clearly Sony cheaped out and installed a bargain bin T6600 to cut costs. Not only that, her HDD is SATA1 even though the Southbridge(ICH9M) supports SATA2.

Swapping in an SSD was definitely the first thing I thought about, but doing a fresh install on a 4 year old laptop didn't seem too appealing. I know I can clone it over but that might cause headaches in the long run. Also my mom isn't the most tech savvy so wanted to give her something low maintenance but still with decent performance. SSHDs are too overpriced for the performance they offer, so I killed that idea. Otherwise I would've swapped in the 840 Evo I had lying around long ago.

By some stroke of luck I managed to find the service manual for the CW series. The two most high end models were outfitted with either a T9600 or T9900. As long as the Sony didn't lock out the BIOS, this gives me hope that I'll be able to install either one in her laptop. Now I just have to scout for a cheap T9600 or T9900...