How far should o over clock my APU?

[doddleman90]

Iv got a amd a8-6600k i wanna overclock it on the standard heat sink that came with it. how far should i push it? and is is worth getting a new cpu cooler? if so what are cheap options

 

[Spectre694]

With stock heatsink overclocking is usually a bad idea. The stock coolers are pretty much only good for stock speeds and voltages.
The best cheap option right now is probably a Cooler master 212 EVO

 

[AnEwG]

According to this post: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=735604 it can be pushed all the way to 5 GHz assuming that you have a very good air cooler and a good motherboard as well. I wouldn't try to OC your chip on the stock cooler since it runs hot out of the box, but you may try to tweak the speed a little without changing the stock voltage and run some stability tests. As long as your APU doesn't go over 72 d C which is its maximum operating temperature it should be safe.