Thinking about a new computer

Well my school just informed me that I can get a copy of xp/vista/everything else in the world for free every year, and that's a big chunk of the cost of a budget computer so I'm wondering what I could get down to. I've been out of the game for a 1.5 years or so, but my last computer was a w/c'ed 2600 mobile

I don't need:
Monitor
HDD
Case
Fans
DVD drive
and I have a 300 watt fortron PSU, but I don't expect to be able to use it.

I'm not looking for a really fast computer, but I'd want it to be faster than my laptop. The video card would just have to handle light gaming, that's not a big deal at all, just minimally better than the laptop.

how much you willing to spend? If you live by a frys this can be done on the cheap.

I don't live by a frys.

I was just wondering how much a decent dual core computer would cost. I only really need
cpu
mobo
psu
video card
ram

If i were you...

I would spec it out on www.newegg.com ... excellent site

$500 to answer your question bluntly.

Do a quick look on newegg and piece some stuff together. You should be able to get a great value on those things you need for 500 or less

Edit: just beat me bestmaxx.

Intel E8400 - $189.99
Abit IP-35E - $59.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply - $69.99
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - $34.99
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - $26.99

Total with no video card is $382. If you are looking to play a lot of games get an 8800 for about $225 or if you aren't going to game much get something like the 8600GT or ATI 3650 for $110.

So for $600 you could have a 4.0ghz gaming beast or for $500 you could have a 4.0ghz all around good machine. Video cards are so personal I don't see how anyone coudl ever pick one for somebody unless they knew what the person was going to do. I'll be running a machine like this one with an ATI X300 I got from an old Dell.