With the increasing volume of data transmitted across networks, it is essential to ensure efficient resource utilization to maintain optimal network performance. Load balancing enables the efficient distribution of traffic across multiple paths in the topology. The load-aware efficient resource utilization aids in managing and distributing incoming requests or traffic among a group of servers to prevent overloading and maintain a balanced system. P4 switches are programmable data plane devices that provide protocol independence and flexibility in designing network applications. The P4 language supports the realization of custom packet processing pipelines, making P4 switches ideal for implementing load-aware resource optimization in software defined networks. The performance evaluation of the four different P4-based load-balancing algorithms is performed that provide valuable insights into the network efficiency and resource optimization. In this study, the primary focus involved configuring switches using P4 to establish protocol independence. Following this setup, a comparison was made between load-balancing techniques of OpenFlow and P4 switches, considering factors like response time and throughput. Additionally, various load-balancing approaches within the SDN environment were explored. The extensive analysis unveiled that P4's Weighted Round Robin (WRR) outperformed OpenFlow's WRR in 70% of cases, consistently showcasing the advantageous performance of P4's WRR method in this assessment.