XDCAM workflows using AJA Kona LHi

Hi,

Have a basic question regarding my workflow.

Here is my system:

Platform - Mac Pro 2* 8 core 2.26, 8 gigs of RAM
Storage - System disk + 2* 1TB software based RAID 0
Input - Sony XDCAM PMWEX3 camcorder.
Card - AJA Kona LHi
Output - Sony DVCAM recorder with FireWire Link, Betacam SP recorder

In my case there are 3 scenarios:

1. XDCAM to DVCAM - most frequent option (SD output)
2. XDCAM to Betacam SP (SD output)
3. XDCAM to BluRay (HD output)

How should I setup my system for above scenarios to use hardware acceleration of Kona? Should I use XDCAM transfer to get files from SxS cards and convert it somehow to Kona supported format, or should I capture my footage using SDI output of my camera?

What about an output - Kona does not have FireWire output - so I understand that I should make downconversion to file and then tape it?

Right now - after I connected AJA card I cannot see benefits of that hardware - render times are the same, and no RT at all...

Krzysztof