Altech Computers has signed on as a distributor for motherboard vendor, DFI, to expand its high-end gaming line.

DFI's LANParty series of motherboards targets PC enthusiasts, gamers and overclockers. Altech marketing manager, Kevin Hartin, said the companies had been in talks for a while.

"We're in an interesting period of Altech's development where we have a lot of vendors coming to us. We're seen as an alternative to Ingram Micro and Synnex as we have a broader reach than the smaller regional players," he said.

Hartin said crossover between motherboard vendors in Altech's stable would be minimal.

"It would be naive to say there won't be any, but it's important for us as the distributor to provide some segmentation," he said.

Altech will bundle DFI's boards with other products in its high-end range. Hartin said part of the appeal of higher end computing was the value it offered the channel.

"People talk about the squeeze in computing, but systems builders are carving out a great niche in high-end markets," he said.

DFI is the sixth vendor Altech has signed with this year. The other vendors are solid-state memory specialists, Mtron, Gigabyte subsidiary, Gigazone, storage vendor, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, and cooling vendor, Alphacool. The distributor has also brought on-board BenQ's monitor range.

Hartin said Altech is in discussions with other potential partners.