Windows 10 Install after Motherboard Upgrade

[Lucca Ashtear]

Hello all,

I am upgrading some of my PC hardware soon and I plan to install a fresh copy of Windows 10, but I have some questions first.

Namely, I am upgrading the motherboard, cpu, and gpu, and I currently have Windows 7 installed on my boot drive. My current hardware is as follows:

ASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-4670K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.4 GHZ
MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760

I'm upgrading to the following:

Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 2-Way SLI ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gamin​g 7
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070

I've built a PC from scratch before, but I've never upgraded a motherboard and CPU. Since I will be getting rid of Windows 7 in favor of Windows 10, I presume that a clean install would be best, right? Should I format my current boot drive prior to swapping out the hardware, or should I attempt that after installing the new components? I've read a few guides that suggest updating all drivers, and others that suggest uninstalling the current motherboard software and drivers--though I imagine those suggestions are moot if I format the drive first.

Also, is there anything I should worry about regarding the second HDD (the one I use to install software and personal data)? I will make an image of it for backup, but otherwise, I suspect I can just leave it be?

Essentially, I want windows 10 to install as smoothly as possible. I'm not sure if I should just keep the boot drive intact and attempt to install the copy of Windows 10 over the old Windows 7 or not though.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Colif]

New Motherboard + CPU = new PC to Microsoft,
Unless the Win 7 is a retail boxed copy, it will be tied to motherboard.

you will need to buy a new licence for Win 10. I would suggest a retail copy as it can be moved in the future.

As for build order, put win 10 on the hdd after it is in the new pc as then drivers will match hard ware. You don't need to format it before installing win 10 as that will be part of process. The only thing i would do with 2nd hdd is disconnect it from power while win 10 installed so that win 10 doesn't use its space for files. Reconnect it once win 10 installed.

 

[Lucca Ashtear]

New Motherboard + CPU = new PC to Microsoft,
Unless the Win 7 is a retail boxed copy, it will be tied to motherboard.

you will need to buy a new licence for Win 10. I would suggest a retail copy as it can be moved in the future.

As for build order, put win 10 on the hdd after it is in the new pc as then drivers will match hard ware. You don't need to format it before installing win 10 as that will be part of process. The only thing i would do with 2nd hdd is disconnect it from power while win 10 installed so that win 10 doesn't use its space for files. Reconnect it once win 10 installed.

Thank you. I was cheap when I built this PC, so my copy of Windows 7 is oem. This was one of thee reasons I decided to just upgrade to Windows 10. I already knew it would require a new license so I planned to buy a retail copy of Windows 10 anyway. I just wanted to know if I needed to format prior to installing Windows 10. If that is just part of the installation process, that's great.

My only concern though deals with the motherboard upgrade then. One of the reasons I am upgrading is beecause the current motherboard has faulty components and the firmware does not get along with Windows 7 for some reason anymore. But I suppose I don't have to worry about that with a new motherboard and OS.

 

[Colif]

You may not notice much difference in CPU apart from 4 extra virtual cores, GPU should be noticeable though. Hopefully new Motherboard and different manufacturer make all the difference for you

 

[Colif]

when you go to install on hdd,. follow this as you will need to do a clean install instead of letting win 10 do its thing as it will see win 7 there otherwise and just install over it, not what you really want.

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html