You’re on the right track as far as splitting the days in which you test them as a late novice/early intermediate. You’re also on the right track as testing before you start intermediate. It’s a good measure of progress.
Two things to note though: your maxes will not be significantly more than your 5s. Do not be discouraged at this. Second, taking a week or two to “practice” intensity work simply isn’t enough. You won’t really gain any skill significantly in that time frame for it to make much of a difference. You might as well test now, knowing you have not had practice “displaying strength”. Just know that “displaying strength” will start to become an important part of your programming going forward.