Instructions and logic provide SIMD address conflict resolution with vector population count functionality. Some embodiments include processors with a register with a variable plurality of data fields, each of the data fields to store a variable second plurality of bits. A destination register has corresponding data fields, each of these data fields to store a count of the number of bits set to one for corresponding data fields. Responsive to decoding a vector population count instruction, execution units count the number of bits set to one for each of data fields in the register, and store the counts in corresponding data fields of the first destination register. Vector population count instructions can be used with variable sized elements and conflict masks to generate iteration counts and completion masks to be used each iteration to resolve dependencies in gather-modify-scatter SIMD operations.