Virtual function, template(CRTP) or branch?

Just posted this question on http://stackoverflow.com/.

I have been confronted with a C++ design problem to choose between virtual function, template and branch. The three implementations are listed as follows. I eventually chose the the second one, which looks tricky but with best performance for a low latency design.

virtual function implementation:

{
  void packet(...) { for (...) message(...); }
  virtual void message(...)=0;
};

class ChannelA : public Channel
{
  struct Header {...}
  void message(...) { ... }
}
class ChannelB : public Channel
{
  struct Header {...}
  void message(...) { ... }
}

template implementation:

template <typename TImpl>
class Channel : public BaseChannel
{
  void packet(...) { for (...) message(...); }
  void message(...);
};

class ChannelA : public Channel<ChannelA>
{
  struct Header {...}
  void message(...) { ... }
}
class ChannelB : public Channel<ChannelB>
{
  struct Header {...}
  void message(...) { ... }
}
template <typename TImpl>
inline void Channel<TImpl>::message(...) { static_cast<TImpl*>(this)->message(); }

branch implementation:

class Channel : public BaseChannel
{
  void packet(...) { for (...) message(...); }
  struct HeaderA {...}
  struct HeaderB {...}
  void message(...)
  {
      if (isHeaderA(...)) messageA(...);
      else if (isHeaderB(...)) messageB(...);
  }
  void messageA(...) { ... }
  void messageB(...) { ... }
};