STACK November 2016 Issue 145

106 / 128

visit
20 NOVEMBER 2016
GAMES
FEATURE
ChampChong is one of the
few Australians that have
managed to make a name for
themselves in the influencing scene,
both here and overseas. But how
did he get that foot in the door?
“I was one of the ‘originals,’”
offers Alen, aka ChampChong. “I’ve
maintained my trust with my audience, and
I always give my honest opinion, and people
respect that.”
People like Champ have necessitated the
use of influencers in the industry, instead of
perhaps your more traditional media outlets, and
he notes that it’s been quite sudden dynamic
shift. “When I first started, it was the complete
opposite – gaming companies would copyright
strike YouTube channels, that kind of thing.
Nowadays, I’ll get invited to a studio to see a
game six months in advance. Our audiences
relate to us because of how often they’re
exposed to us. It’s often a better look than
what you would get on TV, especially in
the case of maybe a 30-second ad.”
“It’s definitely a personality thing –
people watch you because they sympathise
with how you play games, and people are more
likely to keep watching you if you’re having fun.”
It must be easy to have as much
fun as Champ when you’re using a
rig as powerful as his. ChampChong
is the proud owner of HP’s Omen
X desktop computer. “It’s an insane
machine. I didn’t know the exact
specs when it was arriving – I thought
it might have one [NVIDIA GeForce
GTX] 1080, but it had two,” he laughs. “It’s
pretty much overkill, but it’ll last me a really long
time.”
The Omen X has a ridiculous amount of
power output, and can handle ChampChong’s
triple 4K monitor set-up with ease. “I’ve only
run Counter Strike with the full setup, but it was
great. I want to use the 4K properly – I might try
Tomb Raider or Forza across all three screens.
The Omen X has been handling games so much
better than my last PC – I’m in love with it.”
Champ says one of the biggest differences
the new set-up has made to his life is load
times, noticeable especially in survival game
H1Z1. “I’ve got the NBN so that helps a little,
too, but the Omen X just loads you in faster. It’s
a weirdly-built game in that things like graphics
cards affect your load-in speed, so having the
twin 1080s is a huge advantage. In game
terms, three seconds difference can mean
a gun that ensures your survival, and the
Omen X gives me usually around five
seconds. It’s insane.”
Games like Overwatch also benefit from the
Omen X’s impressive computing abilities. “It’s
a noticeable difference. I’m running Overwatch
at absolute maximum settings with no trouble
whatsoever. It’s probably one of the top games
on PC at the moment and it runs flawlessly.”
Champ has also noticed the differences
between his last PC and this one – notably the
frame-rate drops. “Running games like this is
easy on the Omen X, whereas on my last PC
I would’ve definitely had drops in frame rate.
Even if you’re only using the one screen, like I
would for Overwatch , the PC still has to process
the other two, and the Omen X does that with
no issue at all.”
Before heading to PAX in Melbourne, Champ
is looking to check out a bit more of PlayStation
VR. “I’ve been playing heaps of Mafia III, a lot of
FIFA, and even a bit of Gears of War 4, because
I really enjoyed the multiplayer on that when
it first came out a while ago. I’ll definitely be
putting the Omen X through its paces when
Battlefield 1 comes out, and testing that with
max settings. I’m really looking forward to it.”
It must be an
omen
What does it take to stand out in a world overrun by
influencers andYouTubers? It definitely helps if you’ve
got one of the most powerful PC gaming set-ups on
the caught up with ChampChong to chat
about his Omen X. Words Alesha Kolbe
• Actual product may vary
from image depicted
ChampChong