Use an Existing Wrapper or do you own tools,
DelphiX is oki for beginners tho for more professional use you should do it from Scratch or use a more professional Wrapper/Engine tho they are never free..
Speed Difference, Thats a dead war now, Mabye C++ was faster than pascal but if you ask me, VC++ is not faster than Delphi in general, As sayd before.. Depents on the code.