Comparing 1% hit to 1% crit is somewhat of a false comparison, because of how Blizzard budgets the two stats. Basically, one rating point of anything is equivalent value, and it only takes 8 hit rating to equal 1%, while it takes 14 crit rating to get 1% crit (both at 60, obviously). So really, 1% hit should be compared to .57% crit if you're comparing equivalent level items. So it would appear that hit gives you "more bang for the buck" item wise, since its only slightly behind the dps gain % for %, and you can get hit a lot more cheaply. However, hit has limited value in PvP, where you only need 3 or 4%, and vs trash mobs, etc. So there's always a tradeoff between the two, and it's not really viable to build around just one or the other, and the choice of items for each slot is generally pretty apparent, at least with current itemization. This may change if there is more varied itemization at each plateau of ilvl in the expansion, however right now there really aren't any slots for a mage where there aren't clear "best items," some being items with hit, some being items with crit.