In a multiprocessor non-uniform cache architecture system, multiple CPU cores shares one non-uniform cache that can be partitioned into multiple cache portions with varying access latencies. A placement prediction mechanism predicts whether a cache line should remain in a cache portion or migrate to another cache portion. The prediction mechanism maintains one or more prediction counters for each cache line. A prediction counter can be incremented or decremented by a constant or a variable determined by some runtime information, or set to its maximum or minimum value. An effective placement prediction mechanism can reduce average access latencies without causing cache thrashing among cache portions.