I'm going to have to say that NIN is better than Filter. Richard Patrick just can't make songs as interesting as Trent can. Trent is somewhat experimental with his music while Filter tries to keep it as mainstream as possible.
Go buy a NIN CD and stop listening to that stupid Closer song. I really hate how that song gets so much recognition while the good songs on that CD are never recognized. Ruiner, Hurt, Mr. Self Destruct, and Reptile. If you've heard Pretty Hate Machine pretty much dismiss that one. It's mostly a ripoff of older industrial bands. Broken sounds similar to Psalm 69 era Ministry. Downward Spiral and The Fragile are the albums that are his best works because they don't borrow as much from anything else. It's when the group actually became original and creative.