Setting up audio for Podcasts

[Bells]

So, a friend and i have been talking about doing some sort of gaming/for fun project for at least 6 years now. Finally we decided to do it... so we geared up.

Essentially we want to play games on the PC, record footage of it and our live commentary over it. Not unlike 2 best friends plays and Game grumps. Except that here in Brazil, this is considered a "new thing" so we don't feel like a shameless ripoff quite yet.

I purchased a ton of games (good and bad... and the very bad) on steam via bundles and sales, and then moved up to hardware. A few generic controllers a pair of arcade sticks, so we can awlaysp lay the games as close as they were intended to be... and now i have fraps properly configured to get the footage i want in the quality i need, the final frontier is audio.

So i purchased this bad boy...




I also have a pair of Singstar mics as a backup plan, but this one is supposed to be better anyways...

Now it comes to the dreadful routine of configuring this stuff on my PC... which i'm never good at. And thus, request your help.


pretty please? *puppy eyes*

My PC does not have any super ultra audio card or anything like that... i have my Onboard HD Realtek audio card on the back, and Audio / Mic jackets on the front.

Essetially what i want is to change between 2 profiles, one personal where i use the front jackets to use my headphones and built in mic, and the back jackets to use the Boom Mic and speakers for gameplay recording. Which i'll do with Audacity.

Initially one would think that all it takes is to plug everything in... but i'm not sure if its just me or if someone else here has been through this before... but audio configuration in windows is one of the most annoying parts of PC config i've ever known...

So, tips? Ideas? Software i could use? How to prevent noise, improve quality, avoid pitfalls? Windows 7 audio conflicts? Anything like that is a major help on the way and i would really appreciate it.