I have heard about Acronis True Image having a feature that will allow you to simply move over to another motherboard/hardware without a reinstall. However I have never tried it.
Some time Lloyd Case, I believe, wrote an in depth article on being able to keep your current install of Windows while changing motherboards.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/200827/how_to_upgrade_your_motherboard_the_easy_way.html
Now thing have changed slightly since that article was first published.
NOTICE: I take no responsibility and I assume no liability if anything happens to your data, hardware or anything involved in this strictly user experienced, uncertified, method of changing out motherboards with different chipsets. You assume all risk, all liabilities. If you can't, then please do not attempt. If you can, clone your drive you are going to be using before you start any changes. Test that clone drive to make sure it works like your current drive. Then to test out the procedures below, use this cloned drive so you can see if you are going to run into any problems and if so what to do to fix it. I did this and cloned it two more times and tested my method two more times before I committed to it. If you have the money or spare hard drive, you can clone your drive that you are using with your old motherboard and keep it just in case you need to revert back to that motherboard, because you new mobo is DOA or other issues and you need to have access to a computer.
First step after reading Lloyd's article, is to make sure you feel comfortable in the registry, device manager and a file browser (to delete folders) and understand how each step will affect your computer. If you are uncertain, then doing a clean install might be a better direction to go. However if you have the time and the spare hard drive, it can't hurt to try.
Be aware that your system will not be operating at its best using this method. Simply because despite all the steps below, the registry is touchy as is Windows (I can only say this works on XP and Windows 7 32 bit ONLY - I have not tested it on Vista, or a 64bit OS) and there is almost certainly something left behind somewhere that will hinder performance. How much? When I did this, I really didn't notice any major lags, drops in fps, slow down in uncompressing/compressing files/videos, etc. It will simply vary by system. Now switching Intel chipset to Intel chipset or AMD chipset to AMD chipset have the great chance for success. Going Intel/AMD to AMD/Intel or even Nvidia to Intel/AMD you could encounter problems. Simply because of the motherboard chipset drivers.
Now go into your bios and undo any tweaking (aka overclocking) you did. You need to bring the bios and your install into a state of default configuration, meaning all items working and not being tweaked in any manner.
Once you get into windows first thing is to remove all the drivers for things that aren't needed to continue to work in your install of Windows. Firewire, sound, optical drives, etc. you will want to go ahead and uninstall. Once you have remove the obvious, you will want to make sure you search the registry and usually (C drive) for any folders or entries with information on those items you just removed. You will then want to
Then you need to open a cmd prompt via admin priv. If unsure how to do, simply find your command prompt link/shortcut in your start menu, right click on it and tell it to run/open as admin. Now type the next set of commands exactly as they are typed:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc
This will bring up the device manager. I will only say this once, okay twice or more, do not leave device manager during this process or you will have to go back to starting up a command prompt.
Now go into the VIEW menu and select who hidden devices. You will then go through and find any left over entries for any devices you have uninstalled, like your firewire, sound, etc. Make sure they are deleted/uninstalled.
Now before you reboot, be aware that you will need to enter your bios, BEFORE, the OS loads up. If you have lets say a Soundblaster card in one of your pci/pcie slots that you uninstalled the drivers for, make sure you shut your system down, unplug it, dischage any power left by pressing the power button and then making sure you are grounded and either on an anti-static mat, gloves or other anti-esd damaging devices, remove those/that card from the system and set it aside. Same thing for optical drives, hard drives, etc (you can simply unplug the cables from the mobo and the drive itself, without having to actually remove the device (but NOTE: it is advisable to do remove these devices as they don't take kindly to all the banging around that might occur while you are installing your new mobo). Make sure when you reboot you go straight into your bios. The reason, all those devices you just uninstalled like firewire, you are going to disable them in the bios so the computer doesn't try to create registry/device manager entries for them. Once you have done that, go ahead and go back into windows.
Now this is the confusing part. You will need to remember all those programs that required some sort of activation/authorization that has limits on installs. Programs like Omnipage, Paperport, Adobe, Corel, just to name a few will require a reactivation/authorization when you move to the new motherboard and in most cases that will require you to have to wait on hold for tech support or worse wait for an email response, to get them to allow you to reactivate your product (so also make sure you know the email address, passwords and serials used for those products). Now in terms of games, I really didn't encounter any that had issues. Since you are allowed more than 1 install in most games, you will simply just need to activate them on the new system.
If you have Steam with games you bought from them, you can re-download them with no issues if you have to. Just make sure that you never-ever-ever double login or give your old drive with the Steam games on it, as you could cost yourself your account and your games. Hence the reason to clone/back up everything before trying any of this.
Now you are into the hardest part and most difficult, the purging of your old motherboard and its devices and other devices that you added to your motherboard (like graphic cards, gaming keyboards, special configured mice/mouse, etc.).
You will once again want to take the approach of what can I uninstall now that won't affect my ability to use windows. You don't want to touch the chipset drivers or the controllers for your SATA just yet. Once again eliminate all those devices/drivers that are for items that will not affect your access to your system. I would leave your network devices alone until you have downloaded every single driver for your new motherboard and for all the parts you will be moving over to the new motherboard, have them unzipped/unrared and ready to be installed. If you don't, especially with the chipset drivers, you risk BSOD.
Once you have got yourself down to just the chipset, video, controller (SATA) drivers, CPU, Intel or AMD specific drivers, go ahead and go through the command prompt stage again where you type those commands in the dos prompt and clear the device manager, the registry and any folders on your computer. Do not reboot, shut down system instead. Remove any devices you just removed, like you did earlier. Then when you do reboot, go straight to the bios, not the OS, and continue the process of disabling any items you have uninstalled in the OS, so they don't get re-detected when you do get back into windows.
Now I can't find my instructions on how to deal with AHCI. I will search for them, however you can bring AHCI into your new system, even if you didn't have it enabled/installed on your current motherboard (ask around just in case I can't find my step by step guide I used for my change over).
Note, you should go into device manager via your command prompt as shown above before the final purge. Make sure any remaining duplicate entries that are greyed/blued out are removed and only those that have a solid color still remain as you might not get a chance to remove any duplicate entries after starting the final purge.
Now the final step of the purge, uninstall your graphic drivers and finally your chipset drivers. You might encounter a lock-up/bsod or an unstable windows. Don't worry. Once again remove any folders, registry entries and go into device manager via the command prompt and remove any remaining entries for the items you have uninstalled, if you forgot to do it before this step. DO NOT REBOOT, no matter what the software says. Make sure you are disconnected from the internet, even if you have uninstalled the network drivers.
Shut your system down. Now follow proper handling of ESD sensitive devices and remove your old mobo and insert your new mobo in the case (won't go over the install of a mobo, that is covered elsewhere by others in forums, videos and the instructions that came with your new mobo).
Now when you first power up, go straight into the bios, not the OS. What you will want to do is disable all devices like firewire, sound, raid, etc. Essentially your bios should be bare bones, the controller that the hard drive is on, maybe the 1 but not both if you them, network devices, leave off usb3.0, etc. Think of it this way, you want to have the least number of devices that the OS will need to detect and install drivers for. The more you have, the risker the switch will be and the chance of failure is greater.
Once you have disabled those, do not try any tweaks or overclock. Do not change anything that would be consider a way to get more performance (using X.M.P. memory profiles instead of the default detected by the new motherboard). Now boot into the OS.
If everything worked out right, the OS will begin to identify the devices. Do not allow it to (since you should still have your network cable unplugged and/or no network devices enabled in the bios). Allow the OS to go through all the identification. Don't worry about installing any drivers on this pass. Windows will be essentially installing just what it needs to work. Once it has done all (be careful as Windows will sometimes have a delay between detection of devices where it will say reboot, so be patient and wait). Once done, reboot and hopefully you will get back into your OS. If you are in your OS, then you have probably succedded in the swap. You will want to go into your device manager one last time via the command prompt instructions listed above to verify nothing from your old system is present. If that is okay, then you can begin the install of drivers, starting with the chipset.
Now I am more cautious than others, I believe in installing one driver at a time and rebooting after each. Don't try to intall all your hardware drivers in one install session, that creates a chance of problems. Next probably get your vga driver up and running. Beyond this you should follow how the process for installing a new motherboard goes. When you are at a point, you should then go into your bios, and enable one device per install session (session being from the OS loading, you install a driver, and are being asked, hopefully to restart the computer) till you have it all up. Then you should try some of your software, games, etc. to make sure the system is working properly. Reinstall your anti-virus/malware/firewall, adobe/corel/etc. Then you should find something you can run overnight, heck go find a huge torrent, even if you don't want it, and have it download or do a virus scan of your entire system with all the detection settings set to their most harsh or sensitive. Run a game that has a looping demo, etc.
At first do not overstress your system. Remember it is always good to allow the bonding of your cpu and its cooling device, just like how you treat a new car when you first drive it off the lot (you don't go to Le Mans speedway and start racing, so the same with the cpu and mobo). You can also run memtest86 which will test your memory features. Try not to shut down your computer for up to 72 hours (some will debate this but you want a good burn-in time to see if the motherboard is stable and works).
I hope this helps.
I have done this on the following configurations:
Nvidia to Intel
Intel to Nvidia
Nvidia to Nvidia to Intel
All worked. When I had time I would do a clean install on a brand new hard drive, and work on it during my free time, while having my other install avaialable for my day to day uses.
Post any follow-up ?'s you might have. I will look for the step by step I created for myself to get the AHCI drivers into the swap of motherboards, especially if you did not have it enabled on your old motherboard, if you did have it, then make sure it is enabled, before you boot into the OS with your new motherboard. Be aware also that if you did RAID, I am not sure if this procedure will work it, as I have never used RAID in any of my install/setups.