Upgrading to a new MB/CPU setup without a full reinstall is possible.
Upgrading to a new MB/CPU setup without a full reinstall is possible.
You're curious about swapping out your CPU and motherboard without fully reinstalling Windows 10. Given your I7-4770K on a Z87 board and the SSD recognition problems, it sounds like timing mismatches might be the issue—especially since the Z87 predates some SSD standards. You're considering a future upgrade to something like an R7 3800X with an X570 chipset, but you'd rather delay the core installation until later. It’s possible to tackle hardware changes now while keeping your current Windows setup, and you could pause the fresh install for a while if needed. Just check compatibility and timing requirements before proceeding.
Windows 10 handles hardware modifications well. However, UEFI/BIOS problems can arise. What I meant is that if your previous board supports UEFI but you switch it to Legacy mode to mimic an older BIOS, the new board must match those configurations. If your old motherboard uses SATA controller in emulation mode (IDE), the same setting should be applied on the new one. The same applies to CSM. Clock settings and voltage are irrelevant here. With RAID setups, things become more complex since each RAID card might behave differently.