Voted for HAL because of that amazingly creative DIY case. I also can appreciate anyone who uses their system for more than just gaming, so this was an easy choice for me this week.
Hard choice on this one. I really liked the purposed build for Pascal as it would be a solid upgrade. But Hal's rig was really cool. You could tell he put some real effort into keeping it going. Good luck all
My vote is for Hal. He is (presumably) using the computer for some legit school work, and, as a graduate student with very little in the way of disposable income, I can empathize with needing to upgrade but not necessarily having the funds to do so. Also, I appreciate the ingenuity. Best of luck!