Cryorig first showed its Taku Mini-ITX case-slash-monitor-stand all the way back during Computex 2016 and sought feedback from the marketplace with a Kickstarter campaign early last summer. The Kickstarter didn't reach its funding goal, but Cryorig and its manufacturing partner Lian Li are going ahead and building the chassis anyway.
As one might expect from a case developed in conjunction with the aluminum aficionados at Lian Li, the Taku's exterior is covered with the lightweight metal. The legs that hold the machine up are made from solid wood with a light finish, and the Taku sits high enough to store a keyboard and a mouse underneath. The only adornment on the front of the case is a round power button that does double duty as a status indicator. The system within slides out the front on a rail-mounted tray. The side of the case has a pair of USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks, and the top has a little notch to tuck a phone charger cord inside the system.
The Taku measures 5.6" tall, 22.4" wide, and 12.2" deep (14.2 cm x 57 cm x 31 cm) and weighs 11.7 lbs (5.3 kg). Cryorig says that buyers can safely load the top of the machine with up to 33 lbs (15 kg) of monitors or other desktop doo-dads. The Taku's squat dimensions still permit the installation of a high-end graphics card thanks to the included riser. The case has a two-chambered design that separates the motherboard from the power supply (in SFX or SFX-L sizes), hard drives, and graphics card.
Graphics card size is limited to 11.0" (28 cm) length and 1.57" thickness, so buyers shopping for units with bulky two-and-a-half-slot coolers will need to check specs before buying. The maximum height for the CPU cooler is more limiting, at a scant 1.9" (4.8 cm). Builders can cram one 3.5" spinny drive and a pair of 2.5" storage devices into a system in addition to whatever M.2 drives are attached to the motherboard. Even the memory has a height restriction at 2.0" (5.2 cm).
Interested gerbils can pre-order the Taku Mini-ITX chassis at Newegg for $300. Cryorig expects cases to start shipping on December 5. Kickstarter backers who pre-order the Taku through Cryorig are guaranteed to receive their case before the end of December and will also get a free Cryorig C7 compact cooler as part of the deal.