Technology seems to hit a new high in about that time frame.

However, from a practical standpoint, that could get expensive; you are buying the "latest" technology.

Five years is probably more the norm and besides if you wait a bit, all of the beta bugs and glitches will be worked out and all of the updates will be in one handy "service package."

Actually, if your computer is 10 years old, still working well, and your computing needs have not expanded, I wouldn't upgrade at all.

If you want to use the very latest software, or play the latest games, then, of course, your needs have expanded and you'll need to upgrade.

Hope this helps…..JT

PS—I would re-post this question in Entertainment and Music, sub category Polls and Surveys.

I think you'll get more responses there than here. Don't ask me why Yahoo in all their wisdom; HID Polls and Surveys under the Entertainment and Music category…go figure.

AMD or Intel processor – Dual core might be fine since its gaming and school, but go with quad core processor if you have the money.

Motherboard – Make sure it matches the brand of the processor you bought, and make sure it has PCI-Express 2.0 x16 in at least one slot.

Memory – DDR2 or DDR3, just make sure it fits. 4 gig+

Hard drive – Bigger the better, but it can get expensive. 1 Terabyte if you need a ton of stuff stored, but 500 gigs should do.

Video Card – Mainly better for the gaming, ATI or Nvidia (I find both are good so it doesnt really matter which brand you pick). Just make sure the card is PCI-Express 2.0 x16. Most are now though.

Power/Cooling – Not very good on these since my purchases normally come with power and a fan/heatsink.

Optical drive – Just your DVD Rom/CD Rom

OS – Vista most likely