I agree do whatever is easiest to work with. Your bottom example would be a pain for me to work with because I like loops and rings. Also... Quad Cap? http://www.mariussilaghi.com/qcap.htm
You're making this too complicated for no reason, everyone pretty much answered it, just weld the points if you don't need the flat top and you're done, no need to torture yourself on this point (pun intended). There is no best way to do it, it all depends on the budget of your polies, how close the piece is to your…
I would look at this thread for ideas on how to close that better. http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56014 The first page has some good examples, but really the whole thread is worth the read.
I'm not talking about the issues for the workflow, I meant the issues derived from the order the realtime engine render the polygons. Here there is an explanation about this, in the paragraph "the stripping process": http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/provost/byf2.html But curiously the people of epic don't follow this…