I just pointed my rig to Criptoe instead of using it on Hardcoreminers.com so I can test direct mining.
What benefit does one have when using Criptoe instead of Hardcoreminers?
If you're fine with HCM, you can stay there. I've heard people saying that they are worried about the payout of HCM (finances of the pool appear to be not so good), but I have no hard proof to back that up. Criptoe and Guldenpool are my personal favourites (I like mining where I can give just a NLG address to the miner and have everything receiving at that address).