There's no way to currently inspect the cache, without tapping into the internal PHP API as far as I know. I wonder how difficult it would be to create a PECL package to extend it or if it's necessary at all to care about what's inside of the cache. RAM is cheap, so boosting it up should be all you need to care about.

For setting the .ini setting though, check out http://www.php.net/ini.core#ini.sect.performance

That's a pity. RAM is not a problem, but it's more "by how much should I increase it?" :-)

Thanks for your response, though.