$500 PC Gaming Build

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as possible

Budget Range: $500. Not looking to go much over $550 after tax and shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: PC Games, emulating my PS2 and Gamecube games, multimedia use. It would be great to be able to run stuff like Skyrim and Battlefield 3 and not have to worry about upgrading for a while, but I don't think I'm going to be buying those games any time soon anyway. I'll be working on my Steam collection such as GTA4, Borderlands, MW2, etc.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, hard drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon, doesn't matter

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Best bang for my buck. I kind of want to go intel i5 but I feel like that might be pushing it on a small budget like this. I'm leaning intel but to be honest I don't know much of anything about which is better.

Overclocking: Maybe (still a noob but may delve into overclocking in the future)

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (no current plans but maybe down the road)

Monitor Resolution: Unsure, have multiple monitors I may end up using

Additional Comments:
- Looking for just a generic type case, maybe in the $20-40 range. Nothing too fancy. Would rather have a plain case and save that money toward better parts.
- 4GB of ram for now but I'd like to be able to upgrade when I get a little more cash down the road. Maybe 1x4GB now and I'll get a second stick once my bank account recovers from this purchase.
- This is my first time building a PC, and my first time using a desktop for more than just web browsing and what not. I'd like to be able to upgrade this 3 or 4 years from now. I'd hate to end up with something that's obsolete in a couple years.
- As I said before, I'm new to all this. I've tried to piggyback on other similar requests, but it got a little overwhelming. It was a lot of "Do I really need this?" "AMD or Intel?" "How can I take this build and make it better suit my needs?" I figured I'd just be better off just posting my specific wants and needs and having someone help me out. Hopefully you guys don't bite  

Thanks in advance!

:edit from a below post: The graphics card is not the focus of the build right now. I'd just like something to hold me over for now, I'll make due with the games I currently have, then when I get the money in a couple months I'll pick up a new graphics card. I think I would be better served with an i5, a good mobo for future upgrades, then the rest of the money can go toward a graphics card to be able to smoothly run some recent games, but not max out brand new ones.