Amd core's

Hi I have an AMD 3400+ processor and it has a Newcastel core. I wanted to know if the cores in AMD processors have any meaning in there preformance. Well do they?
I know there are other 64 bit processors with difrent cores such as Clawhammer and Winchester... Just wanted to know. Thanks.

AMD Athlon 64 3400+
DFI LanParty UT nForce3 250GB
XFX GeForce FX 5900XT
512MB (soon to be a gig) of Corsair XMS CL 2-2-2-5
HEC 475W PSU
Thermaltake LanFire VM2000A

some other members can tell you more differences, but they do differ by the cache and number of pins. pins has no effect on performance, but the cache does.

Clawhammer
130nm process
1MB Cache
Socket 754
This was the first generation of A64s. It was basically a modified Opteron. Due to being Socket 754 only, it couldn't use dual channel memory

Newcastle
130nm process
512KB Cache
Socket 754/939
Newcastles are clocked higher than an equivalent Clawhammer in order to compensate for the smaller cache. When in a Socket 939 package, a Newcastle can use dual channel memory.

Winchester
90nm process
512KB Cache
Socket 939
Winchesters were moved to the new 90nm process which should allow them to clock higher. There's no real performance difference between a Newcastle and a Winchester when they're on the same level (such as a S939 3500+).

Paris
130nm process
256KB Cache
Socket 754
This is the budget line called Semprons. Half the cache of its brethren and only in S754.

There's also a new core that's supposed to be coming out soon called Venice. It'll be the same as a Winchester, but it will have an improved memory controller and SSE3 support. I didn't really go into AthlonFX or Opteron processors because that probably isn't what you wanted to know.