Yes, I said it.
I've been having a lot of fun with my blaster wizard, and yes I am more effective with my conjurations most of the time. I am transitioning into the mid-levels though, and discovering one more insidious effect of the fact that 3.5 creators HATE magic. It seems that damn near every spell in the books that used to cap at 15d6 has been dumbed down to a 10d6 cap (or, in the case of Ball Lightning, given a "save NEGATES" clause which is just astoundingly craptastic).
What evocation has always been good at is casting a wide net for damage. Is there anything left other than Cone of Cold in the lvl 4 to lvl 6 spell range that does area damage and has a higher cap than 10d6? (Please don't bring up Wings of I'mNotASorcererSoIDon'tGiveADamn). I've been focusing on the generic and FR wizards books. I'm not really interested in 3rd party or Drag Mag material, as they are forbidden from our game.
4thDragon Breath: caps at 10d8, varied energy type and shape of the blast.
Explosive Cascade: 10d6, but a semi-shapable area, and that's a LOT of area.
Force Missles:
5thCyclonic Blast: 15d6 cap. 120' line, completely untyped.
Firebrand:Just like explosive cascade, only it doesn't have to be in one continuous area. Think of it as wizardly artillery strikes.
Fireburst (Greater):15d10, everyone within 10'. Get the BBEG and his lieutenants around your buffed ironbody self, then swift action DD or Tele out after dropping the goods.
6thHowling Chain: Godly defensive spell, pwns anything that gets near you.
Just from Spell Compendium. Might not be exactly what you want, but those are a bit more flexible than plain old fireball and cone of cold (though CoC has secondaries doesn't it? and if nothing else a hell of a blast pattern).