When you post computer information, please summarize to be easier to read Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (x64) Build 19042.685 (20H2) Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50GHz Number Of Processor Cores: 4 --i5 with 4 cores will not edit 4k video very well Motherboard Model: ASUS MAXIMUS IX EXTREME Motherboard Slots: 5xPCI Express x1, 1xPCI Express x2, 7xPCI Express x4, 1xPCI Express x8, 1xPCI Express x16 Device Description: Onboard IGD Device Type: Video Adapter Device Status: Enabled --this says you have onboard video, most likely an Intel video chip Memory Device 8192 MBytes BANK 0 Memory Device 0 MBytes BANK 1 Memory Device 8192 MBytes BANK 2 Memory Device 0 MBytes BANK 3 --this says you have a total of 16Gig of ram NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Video Memory: 6144 MBytes of GDDR5 SDRAM --you need to make sure that the onboard video 'chip' is not being used Drive Model: Seagate ST4000DM004-2CV104 Media Rotation Rate: 5425 RPM --no video of any kind is going to do well on a 5400 rpm drive Drive Model: Seagate ST3500418AS Media Rotation Rate: 7200 RPM --copy video on/off for work, use 5400 rpm drive only for backup --you will need to delete temporary files after completing each project
For example, what I have Windows 10 Pro, currently at version 20H2 - Premiere Elements 2021 i7-4930k 3.4Ghz 6 Core CPU on Asus Sabertooth X79 Motherboard with Corsair 2x16Gig Ram Samsung 256Gig SSD Boot Win10 64bit Pro and ALL program installs, about 80Gig is used Crucial M550 512G SSD for all input... video files and pictures from camera Crucial M550 256G SSD for temporary and video project files Crucial M550 128G SSD for all exported output video files MSI 2Gig GTX760 video adapter, nvidia driver 432.00 I edit 1280x720 video from a Canon SX510 camera, and it plays 'as smooth as butter'
I agree with John. Most likely it's related to the specs of the video you're editing.
Open your video in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and then copy the text of that report and paste it to this forum. Once we can see all of the video's specs we'll be better able to advise you.
Although it IS definitely important that we also know which version of the program you're using on what operating system also.
You need to provide details for anyone to help Mac or Windows and exact version of the operating system Premiere Elements version CPU brand and model and clock speed Video adapter brand and model and driver version and amount of video ram Number and size and type of hard drives What kind of video are you editing? -hint 4k video on an underpowered computer will not play well