[SOLVED] Custom PC Overhaul

[MantisShrimp]

Hey guys,
Noob question for the forum. I spent a ton of time lurking on the forum previously and built a PC with the help of the community 3-4 years ago and I'm looking to make some updates. Without looking back at all my exact parts, I think my current system looks like this:

CPU: Intel i7 4700k
Motherboard: Asus Gene VII
Ram: 16gb DDR3
SSD/HDD: Samsung Evo 500gb 2.5" SSD and 4TB WD Black HDD
GPU: EVGA 780ti
PSU: EVGA? 750w-850w PSU, gold/platinum
Chassis: Corsair air 540
OS: Windows 10.

1. My main question is if I wanted to swap out the CPU/Motherboard/RAM/GPU, what happens after you switch out the components? Do you have to perform a fresh install of windows or will the new components "adapt" to the new environment? Right now, the SSD is the boot drive.
2. If my primary interest is gaming at 1440p (apex legends and similar), is it worth upgrading all the components or just the GPU which would obviously be much simpler/cheaper.

 

[WildCard999]

1. Yes since the parts are changing (motherboard) it does require a clean install as you don't want previous drivers interfering with the new parts.
2. Upgrade only the GPU, the 4770K (especially when overclocked) can easily handle higher resolutions when paired with the appropriate GPU.

The RTX 2070 8gb is a good 1440P GPU.

 

[CountMike]

W10 is pretty good at transferring to other components, specially if connected to internet by wire. Doesn't hurt to try. May need to be restarted couple of times to succeed. You can rectify drivers later on. Licensing may be another matter, no problem with Retail version but for OEM you may need to have an MS account or in worst case call MS and tell them that old MB died and had to be replaced, most of the time they will oblige.
PS:
License is tied to MB only.