A system and method for reducing performance penalties of a host that is supplying a host memory buffer (HMB) for use by a storage device. The method may include modeling desired HMB access timing by the storage device in an initial offline analysis for multiple classes of workloads, periodically updating the access timing data stored in the storage device based on actual use and using the current HMB access timing information to modify storage device access to the HMB on the host. The system may include a storage device controller that quantifies different HMB access timing for different host workloads based on individual HMB regions.