Maximum PC

As the title says, my videocard decided it no longer wanted to send a signal to my monitor, or my backup monitor, or my friends monitor. Which is extremely irritating as it was a reference HD5850 that I had planned to use in Crossfire mode (with another 5850 to be purchased) to handle the graphics on my upcoming pc that I will be building somewhere around August/September.

So the question is, now what do I buy? My dual 5850 strategy is completely dead in the water. I suppose that I would probably go with a 6950 if I were building the pc now, but I'm not sure it makes sense to do that now, as oppposed to waiting for the best option up to six months from now. In the meantime, I need a fully functioning pc to utilize up until then. Currently, WOW is the only gaming I am doing on my 27 inch 1920x1080 monitor.

(Existing system is three years old, Q6600 quad core overclocked to 3.1ghz, Asus Maximus Formula LGA775)

I will be building the new rig to be capable of running the upcoming (11-11-11) Elder Scrolls Skyrim at max settings.

Is it most logical to just buy something to hold me over, and then decide on the best option in say, September. And if so, what is the best option to buy to hold me over effectively for six months? Or should I grab a 6950 now?

While I completely understand your delima, I would first say this, we kind of need to know what games and apps you are running to give any opinion of what card we think could 'effectively' hold you over for six months.

PS, if possible wait the six months with spending as little as you can on a card... I have a good feeling that the Great Graphics Wars of 2011 will go down in history.