While some PC owners are happy to chuck away their old bits of silicon as they travel along the ruthless path of continuous upgrades, there are also those who cling to a stash of all their old bits and pieces, unconcerned about their depreciating value. If you sound like you’re one of the latter, and you’ve still got a Socket 7 Gigabyte motherboard stowed away inside a yellowing beige case in the loft, then Gigabyte wants to hear from you.

The company has just launched a competition to find the oldest working Gigabyte motherboard in the UK and Ireland, and it’s offering a goody bag and a 2GB USB thumb drive to whoever has the oldest board. In order to qualify, you need to send Gigabyte a photo of the PC in which the motherboard is situated, which should be working and fully functional.

As well as this, you also need to send a photo of the model name and serial number of the board; Gigabyte says that the latter can either be found on a sticker that will either be stuck on the CPU socket or the end PCI slot. Gigabyte also wants to know what tasks the PC is performing, whether it’s a retro gaming machine or a simple email server.

If you’ve got an old Gigabyte motherboard that you think might be in with a chance, then take your browser over to the Gigabyte UK forum where you can find all the details. The opening post says: “As you know (I hope) Gigabyte motherboards are very well known for their reliability and longevity,” and we assume that Gigabyte is hoping to prove this point by showing that some of its boards have lasted for years or maybe decades. The competition closes at the end of May and is only open to the UK and Ireland.

Gigabyte hasn't told us what's in the Gigabyte giveaway pack, and it's fair to say that a 2GB thumb drive isn't anything to get excited about either, but we’d still be interested to see what old hardware has stood the test of time. What’s the oldest PC component that you’re still using, and what do you use it for? Share any details of your crusty PC collection in the forums.