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Speaking only of my own personal experience in Bangkok on Sunday (April 12)......mid-afternoon, walked on Sukhumvit from Asoke BTS station to Chidlom BTS station......roughly 20 minutes or so of walking. No water shot, thrown, or poured on me.....no sign of any politically motivated people causing unrest......just a lot of sunshine, and fairly busy foot traffic in Central Chidlom Department Store. That said, the full on water fun in the Sukhumvit area starts on Monday (I think), and the civil unrest / protests might have been going on further along Sukhumvit.

I hope that helps!

CHEERS!

D

Hey there.....I'm posting here to thank the user, "Sheryl" for all of the knowledge that she has shared (a tiny portion of which I have learned so far) over the course of her posts. I always heed her instruction that we here on TV should not substitute her advice for that of our own care provider, and yet it is very often the case that something she posts helps me make new progress with my care provider.....and / or helps me avoid doing something I'd later regret.

Thank you, Sheryl. :-)

CHEERS!

D

Hello there, DOTCOM. :-)

I want to thank you again for offering your personal assistance. Fortunately for us both, there is no longer any need to meet at Pantip this weekend. I am going to purchase a computer system from a company I was referred to....and have them ship it to me. WOOHOO!!

I'll post on the forum once I have it delivered....and it's up and running.

Thank you again....."see you" on the forums!

CHEERS!

D

Hi Tango.....what I've got so far is a headache. Lol!

I've been looking into going even more extreme......an overclocked system assembled in Bangkok. Trouble is, I run into dead ends when I try to drill down to specifics regarding qualified, credible experts who can provide credible references.

I'm comfortable with the folks at JediCool......and yet, they don't seem to have any extra "special sauce" that puts them above the other dozens of vendors at Pantip that can assemble an off the shelf component system. What I'm really after is a "master" of assembling custom, app / user specific, high end systems.....in Bangkok.

Do you or anyone else here have a reference?

CHEERS!

D

Hi! Thank you so much for the ideas. I'll be following up with them and will report back here if I make progress.

(Sorry for the delayed response today.....my email notification of replies here didn't show up. I'll try to "stop tracking" and then restart "tracking" this topic.)

CHEERS!

D

Hey guys.....I don't think they want to pay "more than the going rate". Rather, she (the wife) seems to want a place that is so luxurious that the going rate would be 90k Baht +.

I'm sorry if I miscommunicated that.

SOCAL....thank you. I thought about CentrePoint as well. Looks like they've got a new high end property (near Erawan) that they either took over or built.

CHEERS!

D

NEVERDIE......thank you for passing along the BANGKOK FINDER website. I see what you mean regarding what they have in the 90k or more range. Mostly 3 bedrooms or more.....and surprising (to me) to see how many of these "high end" rentals are already rented out. I guess the worldwide economic crisis is over for those folks. :-)

MIG16.....any specific 2 bedroom apartments come to mind? (It'll be a 1 bedroom plus private study room with bed....lol!!)

Alright....fingers crossed that some of the gurus here post some specific locations to consider.

CHEERS!

D

I hear ya', NEVERDIE......but if that could have been done.....they'd be living in my place right now. :-)

How about recommendations of specific places that meet their criteria. Know of any?

CHEERS!

D

Hi there :-) I'm playing the role of "helper" for a nice woman who is moving with her husband to Bangkok from a house in Chiang Mai. They know that I did a lot of research and site visits when I was looking for a serviced apartment to rent for myself (not quite in the 90k Baht range....lol!) and asked me if there are any truly luxurious one bedroom apartments that she and hubby can rent for long term. She insists that it should be 90k Baht or more per month. We talked about her reasons for wanting to pay so much for a one bedroom place.....but I won't bore you with those details other than to say that both she and her husband are convinced that it's what they want.

Do any of you have any specific apartment recommendations? I would have loved to have convinced her to sublease my apartment from me......and I would even be willing to jack up the rent to 90k if that would make them happy (hahaha!!).....but these are good people who just want to settle in for the long term in a very, very nice apartment. They have no interest in buying anything.....strictly rental.

Thank you for the help!

CHEERS!

D

Thank you, Phil....and SPACEMUNK (especially for your very specific recommendations!).........looks like all you hardware gurus are in agreement. I'll try not to screw things up!

CHEERS!

D

Hey Tango....SpoonZie.......thank you VERY much. I'll go do my "homework" based on your instruction and then I'll let ya' know once I've made progress.

(Oh......and SpoonZie....I'm not sure about this water cooling concept. I just poured a glass of water on my iMac and it doesn't seem to have improved the performance at all. In fact, now it's making weird noises. Just kidding!!!!)

CHEERS!

D

Personally, I'd buy a couple of PC magazines and read their reviews on the top machines and see what they are offering and check out their specs.

Then determine what you want to use your computer for and build it around that. A good shop should start by asking what you are using your machine for and then advise based upon that.

Why not look at a top spec Dell ? You have the support then. A custom machine will be difficult to get support for.

If you are not a heavy computer user, save some money ( I know you don't need to but.. )by not getting the latest and greatest and even though Quad core CPUs are good, there is not much software out there that takes full advantage of the quad cores.

If I were going to build my own, I'd go for something like this:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.3 Ghz ( very fast indeed )

Asus P5K Mainboard

4 Gig of RAM - DDR3 by Geil ( if running a 32 bit OS, it'll only read 3.2 Gig. For more RAM, you'll need the 64 bit version )

I would not go for a single 1 TB hard drive. If it fails, you've lost everything on one drive.... I'd go for 500 Gig x 2 in a mirror RAID, so that if one fails, the other takes over and you've lost nothing. You could get 2 x 1TB if you wish, but two hard drives are better than one unless you wish to backup via another means. The mirroring provides redundancy and automatic backups. Depends what you want... safety or speed. I go for a bit of both.

For a graphics card, go cheap and chearful unless you want to play games or add that second monitor - go for 2 x 24" a 40" seems HUGE unless you are a CAD user and even then...

If you are a gamer, then go for the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4870 as it's a very fast card and runs 512Mb of DDR5 RAM. It's not the fastest, but unless you are a hard core gamer looking for the best frame rates for the latest games, this card is a top card. It's cheaper than the 9800GTX and is faster...can handle two monitors as well. If you want to push the boat out, look at the same brand but it's the HD 4870 x2 with 2 Gb of DDR5 RAM.... that's like having 2 HD4870 cards but with quadruple the RAM..... needs a high resolution monitor to get the best out if it.

Get a solid case and try to get 650Watts of power this will better run the cooling system... the motherboard should have a good heat dispenser but extra fans will be needed ( ask for quiet fans or you'll end up with a noisy machine ).

The rest is up to your preferences... sound card, DVD / Blue Ray etc...

I personally feel that by throwing lots of money at a machine doesn't get you the best performance. It gets you the latest technology but software isn't ready for it yet.

Getting really nice monitors...like a 24" LG or other top quality monitor. I'd also get a UPS unit to protect your computer against electrical spikes and sudden powercuts and then I'd buy an external hard drive for backing up my data. For 15k you can get a nice backup unit by Buffalo Tech.

Finally, Computer crashes can be because of any number of reasons. Poorly matched RAM, poor software, spyware / viruses and poor hard drives; either bad sectors or a very heavily fragmented drive.

You might need to know how to look after your computer to get the best out of it. A new computer will give you the clout you need, but if you don't treat it properly, it will crash.

Make sure you get a very good anti-virus / Internet security suite like Kaspersky 2009 or ZoneAlarm. Even Norton's latest offering is good.

Get a good Anti-Spyware, Malware programme ( Spyware Doctor, AdAware are fine when coupled with your Internet Security Suite ).

Defragment your system regularly, empty your Temp folder regularly, delete temporary Internet Files and only install programmes you know you need. Don't swamp your machine with programmes you just want to test. If you do, remove them when you don't need them and then use a programme such as Registry Mechanic to get rid of unnecessary registry keys.

As you can see, there's a lot more to keeping your computer running fast and smoothly than just buying a new and more powerful one.

Just for your info, I was going down the road I've mentioned above but I didn't want to throw 50+ k at a new machine in one go, so I ended up paying 45k in installments for a Quad core, 4 Gig RAM HP with a 24" monitor. I'm a heavy computer user, build websites and have multiple windows open all the time (Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, IE Browser, Chrome and Safari as well as an FTP programme, Skype and Outlook) It does exactly what I want and the speed is great and we all know HP don't provide the best components.

Hope this helps.

You go, Tango! :-)

Thank you very much......your post here informs, coaches, and helps.....a lot!

Maybe you and everyone else who has contributed here so kindly will allow me to drill down to the essence of what I need this new system for. One word. Porn! (just kidding....really)

There is one software app......it's 32-bit, not hyperthreaded, and the developers assure me that no such whiz bang upgrades are coming to it. There is also no alternative that is suitable for me....and it won't run on my much beloved iMac. Its CPU / RAM appetite is dependent on the individual user.....and in my particular case, I need every bit of power it (the software) can offer. It is also extremely important to be able to render dozens of highly detailed charts, graphs, etc. I'm not a gamer, so I don't know how that compares to what someone who needs a "mega gaming" graphics card might prefer.....but in this case, how about we err on the side of spending too much on the graphics card.......so just tell me the "best of the best" (that I can buy locally in Bangkok....preferably at Pantip).

If we here on this thread can agree to stipulate that these are the facts and that there are no workarounds available.....and also that while I am by no means "rich".....in this instance I absolutely need the hardware system (desktop) that will maximize.....with zero compromises (none at all.....cost be damned.....really.....performance only)......this software app's potential. That said, as Tango and others have pointed out, the "newest" and often even the "most expensive" hardware components do not always offer the best performance. Much of this is, as Tango said, dependent on what app is being run on them. My software app is 32-bit, and aside from that app I will run a Firefox browser (assume 20+ tabs all the time) simultaneously....ahhh...and an anti virus app.........so three apps total (the "mega app", Firefox, antivirus).

Based on these specifics....and for the sake of not bugging you guys too much with follow ups from me......and assuming all parts must be available at Pantip (Bangkok)......

Which CPU, graphics card, motherboard, and how much RAM do you suggest?

I'd love to be able to go to Pantip this weekend....so any thoughts you have before that.....fire away!!

CHEERS!

D

Hey there.....I visited "Ms. Judy" today at Jedicool in Pantip. DOTCOM, thank you again for the referral. She's very nice and either had answers or asked her sister for answers....such that I left with no additional questions. Well....none for them. I do have a few follow ups for.......YOU GUYS!! LOL!!

Here's what I have in terms of very preliminary specs. If you have a second to review 'em....please do so from the perspective of....."money is no issue, building the best dam_n system is!!" Please.......oh pleeeeeeeeease, don't let the specs below stop you from correcting any errors or omissions you think I've made, k? I'll post the specs below....and you'll notice that it is comprised of off the shelf parts. I've seen some incredible claims by a few day trading computer specialists in regards to their "overclocked" systems......which of course are not exactly "off the shelf" components.....but up to now I haven't considered going that route. Should I (obvious concerns with stability, tech support, etc.)? You'll see below that one of my questions is whether I should go for two 24" monitors or one 40" Hi-Def monitor.

Preliminary specs (preliminary meaning, specifically.....please correct / change anything or everything if you believe I can extract even one iota of additional, even incremental, performance):

CPU = Intel i7 940 quad core 8M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 4.80 GT/s Intel® QPI

Motherboard = Gigabyte EX58 Extreme

Hard Drive = 1TB buffer 32MB Western Digital

RAM = Geil 6 gig / 1333 (note: I can go 12 gig instead. If money is not an issue.....should I go for 12 gig? Meaning, will it enhance performance of the 32 bit, non hyperthreaded trading software app?)

VGA Card = Nvidia XFX 9600 GSO (note: I was told that this will handle....right out of the box.....two 24" monitors or one 40" monitor. Which would you recommend....Two 24's or one 40?)

Optical Drive = DVD_RW Asus brand

Power Supply = Gigabyte 550 GT silent

Case = Thermaltake Armor

Additional CPU Cooler = ThermalRight IFX 14 + 2 fans

OK....fire away!

CHEERS!

D

Wasabi.......ditto!

I would love to hear Nurse Sheryl's thoughts / experiences with Modafinil.....and her assessment of the potential for it becoming available in Thailand.

CHEERS!

D

Hey DOTCOM.....I visited the Jedi website, and if you'll indulge me, I have a few spec specific follow ups.

Do you prefer the P5Q over the:

"ASUS P6T6 WS REVOLUTION LGA1366 X58/ICH10R/DDR3/6 PCI-E 2.0/WORKSTATION"

Do you prefer the Q9550 CPU over even the newest i7 (maybe less buggy?):

"INTEL CORE i7 940 LGA1366 2.93 GHz Quad-Core 4.8GT/s QPI L3 8MB"

Do you have any experience with liquid cooling and / or using overclocked CPU's...viz their stability?

One more question....regrettably vague, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to do otherwise......if I need the absolute "best" (measured in terms of ability to use one specific software app without any freezing).....is it as simple as just putting in the "best" components into a custom built desktop box? Or is it more nuanced than that?

note: this is where I saw the Jedi inventory:

http://www.jedicool.com/pricelist.php

CHEERS!

D

Thank you to both of you (SNIFFDOG and DOTCOM). If I understand correctly, you both recommend a shop in Pantip called "Jedicool". I'll go there and ask for Judy.

CHEERS!

D

Hey there :-)

I am running a Windows only software app (32bit, no multithread, nothing fancy) and my current 2.8gHz Intel Processor with 4gig RAM can't handle the load from the app at peak times. CPU usage goes to 124%....app freezes......it sucks.

I would like to have a new system built. Who do you recommend to build a super high end, blazing fast, no more freeze ups ever.......system?

CHEERS!

D

Ditto.....same question.....anywhere in Bangkok?

CHEERS!

D

Hey, hey, hey!! Here's a thread I can help with!

They have the rice pancakes you seek at Villa Market on Sukhumvit Soi 11. They're sort of hidden.....on a shelf just behind where their fresh breads are located (very near the dairy section).

Hope that helps!

CHEERS!

D

Hey PASTAPRONTO......great concept!

I'm wondering.......hoping.......ok, begging.......that you might consider adding one more type of "pasta" to choose from. It is called "seaweed noodle" and I buy it at Foodland and Tops (both on Sukhumvit). The only ingredient is "sodium alginate", which is a salt extracted from brown seaweed. Here's why I buy them......they have almost no calories, and what few calories they do have are all "fiber", which doesn't affect blood sugar levels.

This, in my humble (and admittedly very biased) opinion would be a great addition to your noodle choices. You'd instantly have a low calorie (and gluten free, too!) pasta option. I love them with pesto sauce on top....and when I go to the five star hotel buffets I bring a bag of the noodles and they prepare them for me with pesto sauce. Yum!

What do you think? Possibility?

CHEERS!

D

GIRLX.....I'm sad to hear about the night you had in Krabi Town. Believe it or not....on some level....I can relate. When an American dude asks around for a referral to a good massage parlor, or is even more ambitious and simply walks into one.......while I won't say "most times".......certainly a LOT of the time the presumption is that he's there for more than just a massage.

Clearly not entirely analogous to your experience.....and with no intent of minimizing how awful that must have been for you and your friend............I'll say that apparently your conclusion (that a lot of locals.....not just Thai's!!.....presume that all western women are up for going home with strangers) extends to men, too....at least in some regards.

CHEERS!

D

Wow! Thank you so much for the comments, suggestions, and even specific recommendations. I'm not sure if it's "just me"....and if so, please know I'm trying to improve.....but a lot of the time when I ask a broad based question such as, "where is paradise in Thailand?"......the responses come in more along the lines of telling me what an idiot I am for asking that question and less along the lines of the kind of helpful information that this post has received.

Thank you again. For the time being....I'm going to recommend to my sis's friend that she absolutely book a "look around" visit to Hua Hin (I think I'll join her for that!).....and then also consider the other alternatives that were mentioned in the posts above.

Hua Hin, eh? Who'da'thunk'? :-)

CHEERS! (and happy Thanksgiving a day early)

D

Hey Carib.....thank you for the suggestion. I've heard great things about Hua Hin.....and am more embarrassed every day that I haven't made it there for a visit. Do you / have you.....lived there? If so, what do you like best about it?

CHEERS!

D

I've got a female acquaintance (friend of my sister's) who has heard enough of me talking about Bangkok and Phuket and has decided to move to the Land of Smiles for a year. Her work is done remotely, so a high speed internet connection is all she needs in that regard. She's not a "big city" person.....and didn't care much for Bangkok (I love Bangkok!!). She also doesn't want to live in Phuket or Pattaya.....as she would prefer something more quiet.

Her ideal place would be a beach town.....with at least one high quality grocery store, gym, and international caliber hospital / clinic. She would be living alone and doesn't want to live in a house. Rather, she would prefer a fully serviced, one bedroom apartment. She's from California and she says what she wants is a "high end apartment" that is also quiet....but near the beach.

I've done all I can for her.....but my experience is limited to Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai.....and while she doesn't know where she DOES want to live....she knows she DOESN'T want to live in any of those three places.

As I read what I've written so far here.....lol!!!......it makes her sound like a "rich bitch". She's actually anything but that. Cool girl, indeed!

I also know that my question here is worded poorly and may very well attract all sorts of off topic or unhelpful replies. Maybe I can just ask for some mercy with it being Thanksgiving week....and ask that you do whatever you can to make helpful suggestions so I can put together some information for her.

So....question is.....which "beach cities" should she consider for a high end, fully serviced, quiet, safe for a single woman living alone....apartment?

CHEERS!

D

Hi :-)

Do you know of any breakfast buffets on Sukhumvit that open earlier than the Amari (Peppermill restaurant)....which starts at 5:30am?

CHEERS!

D