diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
index ad765e0b88608d64a705b3def462f1e0cccdbaef..43e3dd284b90f73bc76d28e6fa738ff295482f41 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-list.txt
@@ -18,8 +18,16 @@ various perf commands with the -e option.
 RAW HARDWARE EVENT DESCRIPTOR
 -----------------------------
 Even when an event is not available in a symbolic form within perf right now,
-it can be encoded as <UMASK VALUE><EVENT NUM>, for instance, if the Intel docs
-describe an event as:
+it can be encoded in a per processor specific way.
+
+For instance For x86 CPUs NNN represents the raw register encoding with the
+layout of IA32_PERFEVTSELx MSRs (see [Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3B: System Programming Guide] Figure 30-1 Layout
+of IA32_PERFEVTSELx MSRs) or AMD's PerfEvtSeln (see [AMD64 Architecture Programmer’s Manual Volume 2: System Programming], Page 344,
+Figure 13-7 Performance Event-Select Register (PerfEvtSeln)).
+
+Example:
+
+If the Intel docs for a QM720 Core i7 describe an event as:
 
   Event  Umask  Event Mask
   Num.   Value  Mnemonic    Description                        Comment
@@ -33,6 +41,9 @@ raw encoding of 0x1A8 can be used:
  perf stat -e r1a8 -a sleep 1
  perf record -e r1a8 ...
 
+You should refer to the processor specific documentation for getting these
+details. Some of them are referenced in the SEE ALSO section below.
+
 OPTIONS
 -------
 None
@@ -40,4 +51,6 @@ None
 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkperf:perf-stat[1], linkperf:perf-top[1],
-linkperf:perf-record[1]
+linkperf:perf-record[1],
+http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/manual/253669.pdf[Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual Volume 3B: System Programming Guide],
+http://support.amd.com/us/Processor_TechDocs/24593.pdf[AMD64 Architecture Programmer’s Manual Volume 2: System Programming]
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index ae7f5917935c984b2232cdbf6f1e16f745e1a45c..9bf0f402ca730a938d79ddf2121ed822ff12de92 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -943,7 +943,8 @@ void print_events(void)
 
 	printf("\n");
 	printf("  %-42s [%s]\n",
-		"rNNN (NNN=<UMASK VALUE><EVENT NUM>)", event_type_descriptors[PERF_TYPE_RAW]);
+		"rNNN (see 'perf list --help' on how to encode it)",
+	       event_type_descriptors[PERF_TYPE_RAW]);
 	printf("\n");
 
 	printf("  %-42s [%s]\n",