I honestly haven't seen the previous layout since I'm new to Chipmixer, but damn the simplicity of the current layout sure is sexy!
I can't speak for the usability though, since I haven't used it. But it definitely looks very promising.
The earlier template was not so attractive, it was a very simple template. For people whoever visit first time to any site, the first impression should be very good, but it was not there earlier, but not it is very elegant and looks professional.