Advice for upgrading from E3-1225

Hello

 

My current Unraid server was build off a Lenovo T140 server and it’s working flawlessly, but I would like to upgrade most of my parts for more power, features and streamline the hardware. I have few specific applications in mind that I want to make sure will benefit from this upgrade.

 

My current server is:

 

CPU Xeon E3-1225 v3 .20 GHZ (4 cores, no HT)

24 GB ECC DDR3 RAM

Regular tall tower case

2x Norco SS-500 5 bay enclosure

7xData HD, 1xParity HD, 1xUnassigned device HD, 1xCache SSD

Geforce GT 720 for GPU passthrough

 

My primary CPU hog is a Window 8 VM in which I run Blue Iris for my cameras. It’s really struggling with the few HD cameras that I have and I would like to add even more.

 

What’s the best way to increase performance without spending huge amount of money and possible reusing the same RAM?

Should I be looking at motherboard that supports dual Xeon CPUs or should I get a single i5/i7?

I like the idea of a newer single Xeon or dual Xeon, but I want one that will be faster than what I have now, for reasonable price (I’m OK buying used on ebay) without being crazy power hungry.

 

I know that Blue Iris supports Intel Quick Sync to help with decoding, but I am not sure if it’s possible to pass that in Unraid VM?

 

I would also like to start building a pfSense VM and replace my router based on excellent Spaceinvader One videos, and so I would like to get 2-4 port NIC, on MB or as PCIe device so want to make sure I can do that.

 

I would also like to be able to have at least 2 mid-range Nvidia videocards for GPU passthrough for 2 different VMs.

 

Looking to replace my case / HDD cages with a case like this - https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4500/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=(RSV-L4500)&qid=1569719757&sr=8-1

 

So to summarize – what CPU/MB option would you recommend that will be a measurable increase in performance over E3-1225 without spending huge amount of money, that will be particularly effective for Blue Iris running in Window VM, while supporting 4 port PCIe NIC card, 2 PCIe video cards and potentially fit into a 4U server rack case.

 

Thanks!