X3 720BE or Q9400 or i7 920

First and foremost, what are you going to use it for? If you're only into gaming, then Phenom X4 920 should be good enough. You get similar performance in gaming than i7 920, while spending a lot less.

For $1200, you can build a really nice gaming system.

Wrong! The tests were done using ATI cards and Nvidia cards and the PHenom 2 940 w/ddr3 clearly toasted the i7 920 in gaming.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-am3-phenom,2...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-am3-phenom,2...

In fact, Nvidia's Nick Stam actually helped THG with the benchmarks after Intel fanboys cried about the results

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-280,215...

The bottom line?

Post-testing Analysis: "Indeed, it is not. Instead, the Phenom II maintains its advantage over Intel, even when you drop down to resolutions no gamer with this sort of hardware would really want to play at. If this is still a graphical bottleneck for the GeForce GTX 280, then our conclusion from the AM3 launch holds true, and the Phenom II really is faster in real-world gaming scenarios."

So stop spreading your FUD fanboy.

I'm going for like a midrange computer with pretty decent gaming but overall good performance

Then you should be looking at a AMD Phenom computer.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 920 - 189.99
MB: ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe - 194.99
RAM: Crucial Ballistix DDR2-1066 2GB kit x2 (total 4GB) - 95.98
VGA: ASUS EAH4870X2 - 454.99

So that's the majority of the component, with sub-total of around $950. Of course if you want something even less expensive, you can always exchange the HD4870X2 with a GTX285 that's 150USD cheaper.

Not sure where you got those prices but there are 790GX/FX boards for a whole lot cheaper than $195.
$95 for 4gb of 1066? I see it at newegg right now for less than $50.
I also see 4870X2's for around $400.

Should i really get an X4 cause i heard the X3 is pretty good?

Should i really get an X4 cause i heard the X3 is pretty good?