I have been doing this for over 15 years. The only original component at this point is the case. My strategy has been: 1) buy modern motherboard w/ cpu and mem

I have been doing this for over 15 years. The only original component at this point is the case. My strategy has been: 1) buy modern motherboard w/ cpu and memory at mid point 2) year or two later, max out memory 3) another two years later, i buy most powerful cpu that is supported by motherboard 4) repeat from step 1 I also upgrade hdds / video cards as needed. It seems these components are upgraded more frequently than mb / cpu / memory. Though, my video card has been plenty fast for a few years now, probably because I don't play as demanding games any more. I also didn't skimp on the power supply and it's been performing well. I use a UPS to make sure the power stays clean. When upgrading the motherboard, I also evaluate the technology space to see if it makes sense to upgrade any other components. For instance, I may buy into NVMe in the next cycle depending on what my research reveals. I'm still hanging on to Windows 7. I'll probably upgrade that in the next cycle but it's been smooth. I use VMware for software that needs newer version of Windows.