What is less expensive, populating multiple nodes using GUI elements or Gameobjects?

Hello United people! Although I did a small research on my own, I am mostly posting this question, because I don't really know how to specify my inquiry in the search fields.

I would like to create a 3D map on which a lot of objects will be populated, representing plenty of nodes of a database. Since the original aim is that these objects will have some interactivity (e.g. by clicking on them), they shouldn't be static objects (or maybe not necessarily?). Thus, I am wondering what kind of objects those should be, in order to achieve better performance. 3D GUI elements or primitive Gameobjects?

From what I know, gui textures can be batched from a texture map to reduce draw calls, but, similarly, batching can be achieved with the gameobjects. Other than that I'm not sure about the processes (regarding performance) required for one or the other workflow. Moreover, I understand that efficiency differs from one Unity version to the other, with improvements regarding various fields.

I have installed Unity 4.5 and also the Daikon Forge - GUI extension for your information. The Wearedata app is a good example of the theme I'd like to achieve. Here's an image. If there is no straightforward answer, could you please point me to the right direction for further research?

Thanks for the help!