Definitely not better then a sump, but better then nothing. I use a large one on my 180 along with a sump/fuge tho.... why, not real reason just had one and figured I would use it basically lol
I still use one on a 40B setup for QT. Main tank is in sump. HOB can overflow if they get clogged up and are usually limited in terms of size and you have stuff hanging in tank.