IDE Hard Drive Quiet mode vs Performance Mode

[bigal40]

I was in my bios today and noticed an option for IDE quiet mode, Performance mode and something else like prefferred mode. It was in quiet and I never haeard the Hard Drive. I put it in performance and it is pretty loud when loading things. I haven't noticed much improvement in speed maybe a little. Is it harmful to run it in performance mode or will it shorten the HD's life?

 

[Accord99]

Should be no difference in lifespan. Quiet mode increases typical random access times, from 12-15ms to 18-20ms to greatly reduce seek noise (idle noise is unchanged). Random access times are a key component of a HD's performance though, arguably the most important.