I think mining with a CPU is not an effective form. I've also tried to exploit some altcoin with the CPU, but it's not profitable for me because the performance is not high. In my opinion, you can use GPU or some professional exploiting machine will bring more efficiency.
I think it depends on your circumstances and your goals. Some people, like myself, are looking to hold for medium/long term profits. If I had no way to GPU mine a coin I really believed in, I would be happy there's an option to get me in the game. In fact, that's pretty much how I started in crypto, and I'm happy I scraped together what I could before this year's series of price explosions. My GPUs are currently pointed @ BTG, and I mine ETN w/ that CPU because I want both in my portfolio without having to spend actual money.