The GPU rig is better and more profitable but you might need to baby sit it from time to time.
Bitcoin ASICs are just plug and play and you never have to worry about them. They also take up less space.
Dunno about that. I have two different ASIC miners (GekkoScience Compac and a Bitmain S7LN) and both need to be checked on a regular basis. The S7LN will "lose" ASICs from the chains, while the Compac will start hashing at lower rates than the normal 17.8 GH/s. The S7LN requires a power cycle to "find" the lost ASICs and return to normal, while the Compac needs to have cgminer restarted to get back to normal.
Pick your poison, GPU or ASIC, both have their periods of profitability, and neither is completely hands-off.
Cheers,
- zed