Sandy Bridge is the codename for a microarchitecture developed by Intel beginning in 2005 for central processing units in computers to replace the Nehalem microarchitecture. Intel demonstrated a Sandy Bridge processor in 2009, and released first products based on the architecture in January 2011 under the Core brand. Developed primarily by the Israeli branch of Intel, the codename was originally "Gesher" (meaning "bridge" in Hebrew).
Sandy Bridge implementations targeted a 32 nanometer manufacturing process, while Intel's subsequent product, codenamed Ivy Bridge, uses a 22 nanometer process. The Ivy Bridge die shrink, known in the Intel Tick-Tock model as the "tick", is based on FinFET (non-planar, "3D") tri-gate transistors. Intel demonstrated the Ivy Bridge processors in 2011.
Developed primarily by the Israel branch of Intel, the codename was originally "Gesher" (meaning "bridge" in Hebrew). The name was changed to avoid being associated with the defunct Gesher political party; the decision was led by Ron Friedman, vice president of Intel managing the group at the time. Intel demonstrated a Sandy Bridge processor with A1 stepping at 2 GHz during the Intel Developer Forum in September 2009.