A compute device to generate deterministic compressed streams receives a current string to be matched to one or more prior instances of the current string, the current string being located within an input buffer and the one or more prior instances located within a history buffer. The compute device identifies a limited subset of index memory designated for storing pointers to the prior instances, identifying a reserved slop region in the index memory, and compares the current string to a prior instance, locating the at least one prior instance using at least one pointer to the at least one prior instance. The at least one pointer is stored within the limited subset of the index memory, and the compute device also prohibits use of any pointers stored in the reserved slop region of the index memory. Other embodiments are described and claimed.