Yeah, if lag is not one of the requirements, and resources are, then gold pipes + stone pipes (not cobble) are a cheap and fast way to transport.
Do note that you now need multiple golden pipes to make the items go to fast speed.
I was saying mag tubes because they do go really fast, and are still RP tubes, so you had no need to throw items out of a tube system and into a pipe system.
@Guswut: Well, lag wise, an item out of tube/pipe causes more lag than when in them.
I know it for a fact, because a simple transposer/obsidian pipe under a mob XP farm makes the game way less laggy when you throw the potion. As for how much per item/stack, that remains to be tested, and now that minecraft tries to put items in stacks, it's a bit less noticeable. A shame that the exp orbs get in the way of calculating the difference per "stack", but it should be possible to test it way better by destroying a barrel/chest, and noting every single difference, in a flat world without mobs.
