EP45-UD3R install problems

[SONET]

I did some research and bought components based on what I found might be the most compatible with OSX86, but after over 80 hours of work I still can't get this thing to work right. I have built many machines over the years but have never been this frustrated by one!

 

Here's what I have:

 

Gigabyte EP45-UD3R

Intel Q9550 (Quad-core 2.83GHz)

8GB RAM (sees 2-8GB depending on the install)

650W PSU

EVGA 9800GTX (works with dual displays except for Quartz extreme)

D-Link DWA-542 or Linksys WMP54GS (tried both every install, neither ever work properly)

SATA DVD

 

The machine runs very stable once everything is installed, but the wifi is always up and down (mostly down). I'm connected via a v2 Time Machine that works perfectly with every other computer on the network.

 

I have tried Vanilla installs (multiple times each) of iAtkos (not even close), iDeneb (closest, only Wifi problems but could only get 10.5.5 to work and not 10.5.6) and iPC (lots of random little problems everywhere, including Wifi). Wifi has been intermittant all the time no matter which card I used, even using OpenDNS servers. LAN never worked despite my efforts with different ktexts.

 

I would like to run 10.5.6 so I can run iLife '09 (I tried the workaround for 10.5.5 but it wasn't 100% functional).

 

I need to install from scratch again and I'm out of ideas... anyone have any suggestions on how I can go about this where I might have more success?

 

Any help would be much appreciated!!!