Should I OC right away? Or sit on it for a month or two?

[Mav]

I'll be getting a 1.2ghz tbird (266). I want to OC...but should I do it right after i make sure everything works? (a buncha stability/burn tests)

Or, should I do my testing...then use it at stock speed, or at a small-medium OC for a month or two, before seeing how high it can really go....? :)

[Resqme]

I put together my system and waited about a week , made sure everything was running fine and read a lot of info here, And started overclocking and got up to where i am at now
read sig below. Good luck

[asmodean]

I'd recommend running it at stock speed for a week or so.
Then do small OC'ing, check temps & stability, OC more, check...

For OC'ing multiplier/FSB, drop the multiplier as low as possible, then find the highest possible FSB and start rising the multi.
Then there's the debate of high multi/high fsb... Few total MHz less doesn't matter if you get few more MHz to FSB than with a higher multiplier. For example: 12x100 vs 11.5x104 will make the latter case better as the memory is faster.

[Cowtown]

I let mine run an evening before doing mine later that night. I don't know I never worry about it much, I have been overclocking processors since my Pentium 75, 6-7 years ago so I just overclock everything I can get my hands on as soon as I get it! :)

It may not be a bad idea to let it run normally for a full day or two with something putting load on it to ensure that the CPU is infact working properly and is nice and stable. This is also a good opportunity to monitor stock temps before you overclock to see if you may need better cooling. If you are hot when it is at it's default temperature (over 60^ regularly) then you will likely need some better cooling either by Heatsink/Fan or by case cooling.

Good luck!

[Da Whip]

I did the same as Resqme, made sure everything worked, ran Siosoft Sandra and 3D 2001. After 6 days I started 10 x 133, then bumped the FSB till it would go no higher. Then backed off 5mhz and increased the Multiplier.
I don't necessarily believe that burn in is required, but making certain everything is stable alleviates a lot of problems when you first O/C.
Have fun.