Windows 7: Microphone volume is agonizingly low

Every textbook way to fix the mic being low has failed for me. Can anyone help? It needs to be pretty much be in my mouth to be a decent volume.

Microphone levels at max + boost? Tried it.

Set the correct microphone port as default device? Tried it.

Double check communications tab to make sure it isn't lowering volume? Tried it.

All I could figure out is I have Realtek HD as my audio driver, updated it to the latest drivers, and I went through everything in other forums about it too. Is there a way to change the range in the bios or something like that? I have a feeling I need to go deep into my computer to find the solution.

First thing, make sure you are using the PC (or motherboard) vendor's RealTek sound driver. Non-Vendor drivers in many cases either do not work or do not work correctly.

Have you tried a different "computer" mic? just to make sure the mic you are using is not bad. If this is a desktop PC (and I assume it is with an 8600GT - you didn't fully fill out the My System Specs) have you tried both the front panel mic jack and the rear mic jack?

It's not the mic and I tried both ports. They're both have the same problem. I don't know where to look in my motherboard for what soundcard it uses and Realtek only has a few.

Whatever is on the motherboard is what you (apparently) have now. RealTek is an on the motherboard sound chip. There are also others such as IDT. A SoundBlaster sound would be a separate card and not on the motherboard.

You didn't specify whether you have a factory built PC (e.g. Dell, Gateway, etc) or if its a home built. If its a factory built PC, the PC vendor is the place to look for the correct Windows 7, 64 bit sound driver. If it is a home built (or custom built) then the motherboard vendor's site is where to look for the correct sound driver.

However, with an 8600GT, that suggests its a relatively old hardware design that may have been upgraded from XP to Windows 7 and the proper Windows 7 64 bit drivers may not be available from the PC or motherboard vendor. I used an 8600GT in an old Gateway Windows XP desktop PC I had (its been gone for 6 years). If there is no Windows 7 (or Vista) driver available for your specific sound module then the best option is to install a separate sound card that is Windows 7 compatible (XP drivers are not compatible as Windows handles some of the sound functions differently than XP). That is the only way to get full sound functionality.

The graphics card is a bit old but the motherboard was brand new (don't remember it's name off the top of my head atm). It's home-built so I know what's in it. I'll look it up to see what it takes. I knew it was a chip but didn't see the name of what type of Realtek it was on it or on the motherboard.

Run this software Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit it's free and will show you what Mother board, sound card etc. that you have, then post the results or update your system specs

You don't need to know what sound chip it is. The Motherboard Vendor's downloads for the motherboard will have the correct sound driver. There will only be one type of Sound chip driver.

I figured it out. It was a power limit issue because I had my stereo mix having microphone on with +20 boost causing it to have bad power managing. Thank you for your time helping me out.

That is a strange one. Thanks for the feedback on what you found for the problem.