A system and method to enforce read-write partitioning in an N-way, set associative cache may limit a number of ways allocated for storing modified data in a set to a value W and limit a number of ways holding read data to a value R. The cache may be configured where N=R+W. Furthermore, a number of ways storing prefetched read data may be limited to RP, while a number of ways storing prefetched modified data may be limited to WP. The values for W, R, WP, and/or RP may be determined using a prediction method to estimate cache miss rates for different values for W, R, WP, and/or RP and selecting values corresponding to a desired cache miss rate, and so allowing for selective application of the read-write partitioning.