format i7 question

[Suits]

Reformatted today, deleted the partial.
Having problem getting my mic to work.
You'd think all I need is audio drivers right? Wrong, got them all. Done everything possible to get the mic working and nothing works,
im on a quad core i7 comp.
sound is coming in but weak, not like it should be. is this faulty hw? wtf is wrong? i'v done everything i know to do.


edit: am i downloading outdated drivers? (i.e. im running an i7. does microsoft.com still support the pentium4?) confusion strikes.