A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the CUK Stratos Mini ITX is unusually slim. While we have seen ITX cases which are deep to accommodate long GPUs, they also tend to have a width to at least allow for some aftermarket air coolers as well—the Stratos Mini ITX lays things out differently by essentially eliminating any air cooling ambitions you may have.


In the front are a total of four layers, of which three are used to frame the two 120 mm intake fans which also cool the CPU radiator as we will see later on. The very front layer is a glass panel to give the case its specific looks. Having plenty of space, the fans should run into no issues with taking in fresh air. In the rear, you can see how the chassis manages to be so thin, as the GPU is vertically to the right and the motherboard area to the left of a dividing element.


The main side panel is made out of glass and framed nicely in black. However, the opposite side utilizes a thick acrylic panel with cutouts as an air vent for the GPU. As you cannot cut such a vent into a glass panel, CUK opted for acrylic. I think a better choice would have been the use of a steel panel with an air vent because acrylic is not as sturdy and tends to scratch quite easily. For a chassis of this price point, material mix is an important aspect.


Taking a closer look at the rear, the top comes with plenty of space above the motherboard and GPU areas, so you should be able to install liquid cooling in the ceiling as well if you want.


There, you may install up to a 240 mm radiator or, as CUK has done, two 120 mm fans. These are identical to those in the front of the chassis and are also ARGB. A magnetic dust cover protects these from grime and allows for easy cleaning. You will find two USB 3.0 ports along with the usual audio plugs and case buttons and LEDs. The included ARGB controller allows you to plug in your reset cable if you want to control the visuals through such means. That said, there is really no need to unless you lose the remote control for some reason.