A decent carbon fork and a fatter tyre are as good as cheap suspension in my opinion, and much lighter.
I ride rigid these days. I came to the conclusion that suspension is only an advantage on balls out downhills. Elsewhere you pay for the weight.
I did some experimenting for the ‘Puffer – I tried the big descent as fast as I dared on suspension and then at a slightly more controlled pace on my rigid. There was only a one minute difference. (None of the other descents really needed suspension).
I reckoned I saved much more than that minute on all the long climbs because the rigid bike was lighter.
Mind you, I’m not all that fast anyway, but you might like to try your own experiment 😀