I'm running a 3 year old computer. Paid about 1200 for it back then. Up until the current gen systems came out, I was generally getting max graphics at 60fps. Now, I probably get 30fps, sometimes lower, depending on the graphic settings. I'll be upgrading later this winter, I'm thinking.

Yes and no.

I have a late 2011 rig which is an Intel i3 2120, 8GB DDR3 ram, and GTX550Ti. It came out to just under $500 after taxes not including monitor and keyboard/mice.

I haven't really sat down and PC gamed for maybe 2 years now. But before that, I would play Fallout 3, New Vegas, Dead Space, Portal 2, and Left4Dead 2 all at max at 1080p, and 60fps (w/ 2x MSAA). I did eventually install many graphics mods on both Fallouts and I did take a hit but still above 30fps.

Probably the two most demanding games I have are Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3, the latter which I haven't played yet, but I couldn't max out Battlefield which was later 7th gen game.

A lot of people can't play that game properly. :P

Nice Cherry picking:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-10.html

In 1080p the 290X beats the 980...

Are you joking? How is one card beating another when all cards (970, 980, 780ti, R9 290 and R9290x) obviously run into a 60-fps-limit caused by v-sync or the game-engine itself? None of these GPUs could show their true potential in 1920x1080 with only FXAA, god rays low and PhysX off:

Here is a more demanding resolution with the same settings, where the cards don't run in the 60 fps-wall:

So, do people who game on PCs and have desktops also buy a laptop?

Sure, if perfect means 30fps with frame drops on 1080p. Yes, perfect.

I can run every game out there now at 1920x1080 at 60+ frames.
My system at this point could not be considered cheap. I will give a quick run through of how much it would cost to buy the parts at today's prices.

CPU: Core i7 4770K $250
Mobo: Asus X97 Pro $200
RAM: 8GB gSkill 1866 $100
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 SC: $590
PSU: Crosair CX 750: $90
HDD: 1TB WD Green: $90
SDD: Samsung Evo 840: $125
ODD: Lite-on 16X DVD burner: $20
Case: Thermaltake (forget model) $120
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Z: $100

Accessories
Keyboard: Logitech 710 Plus mechanical $170
Mouse: Logitech G9 $100
Speakers: Logitech Z5500 (out of production, Z906 price shown, closest comparable) $500

Total with cheaepr case, no ODD and no Sound Card and no SDD: $1260 with a decent $40 case.

Total price not including accessories: $1585

W/ Accessories: $2355

Not cheap, but all were purchased over time and not at once so the financial impact is not as bad as it sounds.

you see that sort of price tag puts a lot of people off. i understand you can get ps4 quality set ups for 600$ but you're going to feel very left out when pc threads have people showing off games running 3 or 4 times better than you. 

Nope. I max out at 900p(16:10)75fps. My monitor is 1440x900 at 75Hz.