In an embodiment, a processor includes a sparse access buffer having a plurality of entries each to store for a memory access instruction to a particular address, address information and count information; and a memory controller to issue read requests to a memory, the memory controller including a locality controller to receive a memory access instruction having a no-locality hint and override the no-locality hint based at least in part on the count information stored in an entry of the sparse access buffer. Other embodiments are described and claimed.